THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


BY 

HENRY  CHELLEW,  PH.D.,  D.Sc. 

Member  of  the  Academical  Society.   Paris    (Gold   Medallist);   Lecturer, 
School  of  Economics  (School  for  Officers),  University  of  London 


PREFACE  BY 

RT.  HON.  LORD  SYDENHAM,  F.R.S. 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 

uhc  Knickerbocker  press 

1920 


COPYRIGHT,   1920 

BY 
G.  P.  PUTNAM'S   SONS 


Bus.  Admin. 
Library 


C 


DeOicateD 

TO 

MY  COMRADES  IN-ARMS 
OF  THE  U.  S.  ARMY 

WHO  ATTENDED   MY   LECTURES  AT   THIS   SCHOOL   OF   THE 
UNIVERSITY   OF   LONDON,    1919 


1260714 


PREFACE  TO  AMERICAN  EDITION 

THE  chief  reason  for  submitting  a  special 
preface  to  the  American  Edition  is  to  indi- 
cate as  clearly  as  possible  that  this  little 
book  is  as  much  American  in  origin  and 
character  as  British.  In  other  words,  the 
reader  will  speedily  recognize  the  deep  in- 
debtedness of  the  writer  to  American  au- 
thors, and  sources  of  both  material  and 
inspiration.  Following  upon  a  visit  to  the 
United  States  (where  he  lectured  in  1913), 
the  author  never  forgot  the  first  impressions 
of  the  amazing  efficiency  displayed  on  all 
hands  by  Americans  of  all  grades  of  society, 
and  pledged  himself  after  investigating 
these,  to  endeavour  to  establish  some  of 
these  principles  of  human  action  in  England 
upon  his  return.  That  this  has  been  done 
iv 


Preface  to  American  Edition 

(after  serving  in  several  regiments  during 
the  Great  War),  this  work  witnesses.  How 
far  success  has  been  won,  others  must  judge 
and  time  will  tell.  In  England  the  book  has 
met  with  a  most  cordial  reception  by  all 
those  journals  and  periodicals  whose  word 
of  commendation  is  worthy  of  respect. 

The  book  is  hardly  a  book  at  all — indeed 
it  is  intended  as  an  introduction  to  a  larger 
volume  of  a  more  specialized  character,  as 
stated  on  page  105.  These  pages  may  be 
looked  upon  as  a  short  synthetic  study  of 
a  vast  field — but  the  reader  is  enticed  to 
explore  for  himself  by  being  given  a  series 
of  swift  glimpses  of  the  fields  which  are 
under  investigation.  The  brevity  and  terse 
nature  of  the  chapters  may  be  partly  ex- 
plained by  the  fact  that  the  writer  was 
limited  as  to  time  in  order  to  meet  the  urgent 
requests  of  a  number  of  students  who  wished 
to  have  in  some  form  a  permanent  record  of 
lectures,  apart  from  the  well-known  text- 


Preface  to  American  Edition 

books  on  this  subject.  Here  the  volume  is 
a  precis  of  many  hours  devoted  to  ex- 
Service  men  of  the  Allied  armies. 

More  than  one  hundred  American  officers 
are  already  familiar  with  these  words  and 
ideas,  having  attended  a  course  of  lectures 
at  the  London  School  of  Economics,  on  their 
way  home  from  the  war.  They  will  possess 
and  keep  this  manual  as  a  memento  of 
pleasurable  and  profitable  times.  We  were 
comrades  in  arms  and  thereafter  ardent 
students  of  the  great  Science  of  Industry 
and  the  Art  of  Life. 

American  industrialists  will  note  that  the 
author  writes  not  as  an  engineer,  but  views 
this  vast  and  complex  problem  from  the 
standpoint  of  philosophy  and  psychology. 
We  have  quoted  their  own  prophets  and 
sought  to  honour  their  intrepid  investiga- 
tors, foremost  among  whom  we  will  mention 
Gilbreth,  Rudolph  Binder,  Professor  Gil- 
man,  Dean  French,  Johnson,  and  others 
vi 


Preface  to  American  Edition 

whose  utterances  are  axioms  we  use  for  our 
guidance  here  in  Britain.  To  the  author 
they  have  been  the  high  priests  of  the  great 
cult  of  Efficiency,  and  this  little  book  is  the 
offering  of  an  ardent  disciple.  Where  names 
have  not  been  stated,  when  quotations  or 
extracts  have  been  used,  the  indebtedness 
of  the  author  is  all  the  deeper  since  in  some 
cases  he  could  not  trace  the  source.  Our 
hope  is  that  the  viewpoint  of  the  book  and 
its  chief  thesis  will  find  acceptance  in  a  land 
where  efficiency  is  the  religion  of  its  people. 

HENRY  CHELLEW. 

London  School  of  Economics,  University  of 
London.  Late  Devon  Regiment  and 
R.  A.  S.  C.,  Staff,  War  Office. 


vn 


PREFACE 
By  the  RT.  HON.  LORD  SYDENHAM,  F.R.S. 

THE  war  has  thrown  a  powerful  search- 
light upon  certain  evils  in  our  present  in- 
dustrial system,  and  upon  the  grave  dangers 
to  which  they  have  given  rise.  From  the 
painful  experience  of  four  and  a  half  years 
of  dire  stress,  we  have  already  learned  many 
lessons  of  supreme  value. 

We  have  now  to  deepen  and  extend  our 
knowledge  of  industrial  conditions  and 
needs  in  order  to  reconstruct  the  relations 
between  employer  and  employed,  as  the 
only  possible  means  of  securing  the  increase 
of  production  which  alone  can  save  the 
nation  from  bankruptcy  and  ruin. 

The  existence  of  the  present  large  popu- 
viii 


Preface 

lation  depends  absolutely  upon  the  overseas 
trade  which  has  been  wholly  disorganized 
and  partly  lost  during  the  war.  If  that 
trade  cannot  be  rebuilt  and  extended  by 
the  strenuous  and  willing  work  of  all  classes 
with  hand  and  brain,  a  great  part  of  our 
people  will  within  a  few  years  be  forced  to 
emigrate  or  starve.  There  is  no  conceivable 
alternative. 

During  the  war  huge  numbers  of  men  and 
women  were  congregated  into  munition 
factories  and  were  in  many  cases  set  to 
unaccustomed  work.  The  result  has  been  a 
revelation  of  the  ease  with  which  operations 
previously  regarded  as  requiring  long  train- 
ing were  mastered  arid  accomplished. 

The  work  of  women  and  girls,  especially 
in  the  year  following  their  employment  on 
a  large  scale,  was  a  wonderful  performance, 
which  served  permanently  to  discredit  many 
preconceived  theories  in  regard  to  skilled 
labour  and  to  prove  that  intelligence  coupled 
ix 


Preface 

with  patriotic  devotion  could  surmount 
difficulties  previously  believed  to  be  soluble 
only  by  a  highly  trained  minority. 

The  effects  of  overstrain  in  men  as  well 
as  in  women  were  soon  apparent,  and  a 
committee  presided  over  by  Sir  George 
Newman  was  appointed  to  inquire  into  the 
health  of  munition  workers  generally.  The 
reports  of  this  committee  constitute  a  mine 
of  'invaluable  information  on  some  aspects 
of  labour  which  had  been  far  too  generally 
ignored. 

I  will  mention  two  only  of  the  most 
important  results  of  this  expert  investiga- 
tion. It  was  proved  conclusively  that  long 
hours  and  overtime  caused  a  direct  loss  of 
production  apart  from  the  indirect  effect 
upon  the  health  and  efficiency  of  the 
worker.  Cumulative  industrial  fatigue  was 
shown  to  be  as  economically  disastrous  as 
its  infliction  on  the  worker  is  obviously 
inhuman.  In  the  second  place,  it  became 


Preface 

evident  that  the  strain  frequently  told 
more  heavily  on  managers  and  foremen 
than  upon  the  manual  worker. 

There  were  many  other  great  lessons  to 
which  I  cannot  here  refer;  but  these  lessons 
were  unfortunately  not  at  once  applied  in 
the  munition  factories,  although  on  several 
occasions  I  attempted  to  draw  attention  to 
them  in  the  House  of  Lords.  In  one  of 
their  later  reports,  the  committee  stated 
plainly  that  the  health  of  the  worker  had 
suffered  to  a  serious  extent  from  causes 
which  might  easily  have  been  removed. 

We  owe  it  to  the  war,  however,  that 
what  is  called  "Welfare  Work"  in  factories 
and  workshops  will  henceforth  be  a  per- 
manent institution  recognized  as  essential, 
not  only  in  the  interests  of  labour  with 
hand  and  brain,  but  in  order  to  increase 
production.  In  a  pamphlet  just  issued  by 
the  Home  Office  for  the  information  of 
employers,  the  chief  matters  demanding 
xi 


Preface 

careful  attention  are  summarized  under  the 
following  headings: — 

1.  Health  (spacing  of  work  and  workers, 
adequate  light  and  lighting,  and  pre- 
vention of  fatigue). 

2.  Safety    (prevention   of  accidents  and 
provision  of  first  aid). 

3.  General  well-being  (provision  of  drink- 
ing water,  mess  rooms  and  canteens, 
protective    clothing,    cloak-room    ac- 
commodation   and    washing    conven- 
iences) . 

All  these  matters  will  now  come  under 
the  purview  of  the  new  Ministry  of  Health, 
and  we  may  hope  that  a  great  improvement 
in  the  physical  conditions  of  labour  will 
gradually  be  attained. 

Outside  what  is  now  described  as  "  wel- 
fare work, "  there  are  other  questions  of  im- 
mense importance  with  which  Dr.  Chellew 
xii 


Preface 

deals  in  this  book — questions  which  are 
only  now  beginning  to  receive  attention  in 
this  country,  but  which  must  exercise  far- 
reaching  influence  upon  industrial  conditions 
in  the  future.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  regulate 
working  hours  or  to  provide  greater  safety 
and  comfort  for  the  worker.  It  is  necessary, 
as  the  author  points  out,  to  study  "the 
broad  problem  of  Human  Efficiency"  and 
to  carry  out  "more  minute  and  scientific 
investigation"  than  has  at  present  been 
undertaken.  We  have  almost  succeeded  in 
perfecting  the  inanimate  machine.  We  have 
too  much  neglected  the  human  machine,  of 
all  others  the  most  marvellous  and  the  most 
complex,  because  dominated  by  what  may 
be  called  psychological  forces.  It  has  been 
possible  in  the  case  of  animals  to  produce 
types  exactly  fitted  for  the  service  of  man. 
Can  something  of  this  nature  be  achieved 
in  the  case  of  men  and  women  by  education, 
environment,  and  inspiration?  Is  the  ideal 
xiii 


Preface 

of  the  happy  and  contented  manual  worker, 
proud  of  his  skill  and  achievements,  and 
conscious  alike  of  his  duty  to  the  common- 
wealth and  of  his  absolute  dependence  on 
directing  brains,  which  his  class  is  already 
supplying  and  may  supply  in  greater  degree 
in  the  future,  an  empty  dream?  How  are 
we  to  attain  what  Dr.  Chellew  calls  "the 
right  spirit  in  industry  "?  At  least  it  is  clear 
that  human  efficiency  in  the  best  sense  can- 
not exist  without  some  measure  of  that 
spirit.  The  only  efficient  worker  with  brain 
or  hand  is  the  man  or  woman  whose  heart 
is  in  "the  trivial  round,  the  common  task." 
To  considerations  of  this  kind  Dr.  Chel- 
lew's  thoughtful  book  is  devoted.  As  he 
points  out  in  Chapter  III,  "it  is  perfectly 
clear  that  there  are  two  fatigues,  and  that 
the  most  important  is  that  of  the  mind  or 
spirit."  All  experience  proves  that  spirit 
can  dominate  fatigue  and  that  men  who 
work  very  long  hours — hours  not  realized 
xiv 


Preface 

by  the  manual  worker — may  live  to  a 
happy  old  age,  labouring  to  the  last.  We 
cannot  balance  brain  work  against  physical 
exertion,  as  they  have  no  common  denomi- 
nator; but  within  limits,  it  is  certain  that 
"the  mind  or  spirit"  plays  a  great  part  in 
mitigating  physical  fatigue.  "The  man 
who  takes  a  real  live  interest  in  his  work 
seldom  suffers  from  fatigue."  While,  there- 
fore, the  psychological  factor  demands  care- 
ful study  by  all  who  are  responsible  for 
the  management  of  industries,  unintelligent 
manual  work  will  always  be  destructive 
of  the  interest  which  the  worker  must  feel 
if  he  is  to  put  his  heart  into  his  task.  In 
large  numbers  of  operations,  skilled  and 
unskilled,  there  is  a  stupid  waste  of  effort. 
The  worker  could  produce  more  with  less 
physical  exertion  than  he  is  accustomed  to 
employ,  and  he  would  gain  morally  from 
the  consciousness  of  the  best  accomplish- 
ment with  the  least  fatigue.  Here  is  a 

XV 


Preface 

wide  field  which  is  beginning  to  be  explored, 
and  which  the  worker,  himself,  can  assist  in 
exploring  if  we  appeal  to  his  intelligence 
and  initiative.  "Discharge  of  energy," 
writes  Dr.  Oilman,  "is  pleasure  in  propor- 
tion to  amount,  complexity,  and  freedom 
of  delivery."  In  work  unintelli gently  per- 
formed there  can  never  be  pleasure. 

I  regret  that  I  have  not  time  to  give  a 
general  survey  of  the  scope  of  this  most 
suggestive  and  helpful  book.  "Thought," 
says  the  writer,  "is  the  dominant  factor  in 
business, "  and  I  find  many  thoughts  in  these 
pages  which  can  inspire  the  study  neces- 
sary to  place  our  industries  on  the  basis  of 
good-will,  the  only  basis  which  can  guaran- 
tee efficiency  and  stability.  We  have,  as  I 
have  said,  neglected  the  human  machine  in 
its  spiritual  aspects,  and  to  this  neglect  our 
present  dangers  are,  I  believe,  mainly  due. 
At  this  crisis  in  the  fate  of  our  country  and 
our  Empire,  it  may  yet  be  possible  to  stem 
xvi 


Preface 

the  rising  tide  of  revolution  by  earnest 
appeals  to  the  patriotism  of  our  people 
which  has  saved  us  from  Prussian  domina- 
tion. 

But  "the  former  things  are  passed  away, " 
and  the  industrial  conditions  of  the  past 
cannot  be  continued.  I  commend  Dr. 
Chellew's  book  to  all  who  desire  to  obtain 
an  insight  into  the  causes  of  industrial 
unrest,  and  who  are  earnestly  seeking  the 
welfare  of  the  workers,  upon  whose  loyalty 
to  the  Constitution,  'fidelity  to  the  best 
traditions  of  our  race,  and  willingness  to 
give  honest  work  for  their  own  benefit  and 
that  of  the  whole  community,  the  salvation 
of  the  State  from  economic  disaster  now 
absolutely  depends. 

SYDENHAM. 

August  2,  1919. 


xvn 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I. — INTRODUCTORY  i 

II. — HUMAN  EFFICIENCY  16 

III. — WHAT  is  FATIGUE?  •         •         •       37 

IV. — APPLIED  PSYCHOLOGY  •         •         •       73 

V. — SELECTING  EMPLOYEES  ...      96 

VI. — SCIENTIFIC    MANAGEMENT    AND   THE 

WELFARE  OF  THE  WORKER   .         .     122 

APPENDIX    A — HANDLING     THE      HUMAN 

FACTOR    .         .         .         .131 

APPENDIX   B — TRAINING    EXECUTIVES    FOR 

EFFICIENCY       .         .         .138 

APPENDIX  C — How  TO  ESTABLISH  AN  EFFI- 
CIENCY CLUB     .         .         -144 


xvin 


Human  and  Industrial 
Efficiency 


CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTORY 

THE  aim  and  object  of  this  book  is  to 
stimulate  interest  in  and  focus  attention 
upon  what  is  undoubtedly  the  most  im- 
portant factor  in  the  evolution  of  modern 
industrial  life. 

The  one  desire  of  the  writer  is  to  indicate 
at  the  very  beginning  that  the  book  itself 
does  not  lay  claim  to  be  academic  in  treat- 
ment or  scientific  in  character.  Rather, 
and  on  the  contrary,  the  aim  herein  is  to 

i 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

map  out  the  broad  outlines  of  the  problem 
of  human  efficiency  along  which  others 
would  proceed  to  more  minute  and  scientific 
investigation. 

The  reader  will  look  in  vain  in  these 
pages  for  the  vocabulary  of  the  psychological 
laboratory. 

Realizing  that  the  industrial  equation 
will  be  solved  by  practical  rather  than 
theoretical  men,  the  object  of  the  book  is 
to  indicate  to  the  busy  executive  mind 
where  the  chief  difficulties  in  industrial  life 
exist  and  to  offer  various  suggestions  how 
they  may  be  satisfactorily  solved  to  the 
benefit  of  the  worker  in  the  first  place,  and 
the  peace  of  mind  of  both  the  business  ad- 
ministrator and  organizer. 

Anticipating  some  of  those  inevitable 
criticisms  which  will  naturally  arise  in  the 
minds  of  reviewers,  students,  and  the 
general  lay-reader,  it  is  earnestly  hoped 
that  the  difficulties  of  the  pioneer  in  the 


Introductory 

sphere  of  human  economics  will  be  readily 
recognized  and  due  allowance  made  for 
them. 

Much  of  the  material  herein  has  been 
used  in  a  series  of  lectures  delivered  at  the 
School  of  Economics,  University  of  London, 
and  in  addition  much  of  what  is  stated  in 
these  pages  has  been  expressed  by  other 
writers  and  investigators  whose  names  are 
well  known  on  three  continents. 

My  more  immediate  friends,  assistants, 
and  associates  at  home  and  abroad  will 
recognize  my  deep  indebtedness  to  them 
for  a  number  of  ideas  which  have  been 
utilized  and  expanded,  and  for  which  I 
desire  to  acknowledge  my  gratitude  and 
sincere  thanks. 

To  establish  the  importance  of  our  sub- 
ject one  has  only  to  quote  from  several 
public  utterances  of  some  of  our  leading 
men  of  science  and  industrialists.  Lord 
Sydenham,  in  his  presidential  address  to 

3 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

the  British  Science  Guild  upon  "Science 
and  Labour  Unrest, "  recently  stated: 

"If  the  great  housing  problem  was  neg- 
lected during  the  years  in  which  the  present 
industrial  system  was  being  built  up,  other 
matters  affecting  the  life  of  the  workers  were 
equally  ignored,  until  the  war  turned  a 
searchlight  upon  them.  I  have  pointed  out 
that  the  intensity  of  muscular  exertion  has 
been  diminished;  but  industrial  fatigue  in 
many  aspects  persists.  The  monotony  of 
tending  a  machine,  though  it  may  not  cause 
physical  exhaustion,  does  entail  nervous 
strain,  and  leads  to  psychological  effects  of 
several  kinds.  Hours  of  work  have  been 
generally  too  long  and  not  well  arranged. 
There  has  been  too  much  overtime,  resulting 
in  cumulative  industrial  fatigue.  These  and 
other  questions  were  studied  by  Sir  George 
Newman's  Committee  on  the  Health  of 
Munition  Workers,  and  we  have  now  valu- 
able information  which,  if  wisely  applied, 

4 


Introductory 

can  save  the  worker  from  undue  stress  and 
provide  him  with  time  for  wholesome  rec- 
reation. The  study  of  the  elimination  of 
unnecessary  movements,  and  of  enabling 
work  to  be  carried  out  with  the  least  fatigue, 
was  started  in  America,  and  is  certain  to 
make  way  in  this  country.  It  is  claimed 
that,  as  a  result  of  this  study  applied  to 
mould-making,  output  was  increased  165 
per  cent,  and  wages  64  per  cent.,  while  the 
reduction  in  cost  was  54  per  cent.  In  the 
purely  manual  labour  of  unloading  pig-iron, 
the  corresponding  percentages  were  150, 
69,  and  66.  There  is  here  a  new  branch  of 
science,  which  can  greatly  benefit  the 
manual  worker,  and  at  the  same  time  in- 
crease production." 

In  a  recent  lecture  upon  the  Education  of 
Colliery  Managers  for  Administrative  and 
Social  Responsibilities,  W.  Maurice,  a  well- 
known  practical  mining  engineer,  stated: 

"The  most  important  'machine'  em- 
5 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

ployed  in  industry  is  man.  Every  engineer 
is  familiar  with  the  conditions  under  which 
a  contrivance  will  work  most  efficiently. 
He  knows  that  a  little  oil,  applied  in  the 
right  place  and  at  the  right  time,  will  pre- 
vent it  from,  so  to  say,  'going  on  strike/ 
He  knows  that  metals  and  other  inanimate 
objects  may  suffer  from  fatigue,  and  that 
they  will  break  down  if  they  are  not  rested. 
He  makes  careful  studies  of  all  these  matters 
and  seeks  to  apply  all  human  knowledge  to 
obtain  the  conditions  of  maximum  efficiency 
for  any  mechanism  in  which  he  may  be 
interested. 

"What  has  he  done  so  far,  and  what  is 
he  going  to  do,  with  regard  to  the  one 
'machine'  without  which  all  others  are 
utterly  useless?  The  human  machine  has, 
it  is  true,  been  most  extensively  studied  in 
the  philosophic  way  throughout  the  ages. 
It  is,  however,  only  recently  that  man  has 
been  scientifically  studied  as  a  mechanism, 

6 


Introductory 

that  his  physiological  and  psychological 
attributes  have  been  made  the  subject  of 
laboratory  research  as  distinguished  from 
merely  intellectual  analysis.  The  every- 
day engineer  continues  to  use  the  human 
machine  with  considerably  less  intelligence 
than  he  exerts  when  he  is  inducing  a  nail 
to  follow  the  directions  of  a  hammer.  His 
methods  of  lubricating  this  'machine'  are 
empiric,  not  to  say  crude.  His  knowledge 
of  human  fatigue  begins  and  ends  with  a 
general  impression  that  some  men  are  '  born 
tired, '  and  the  others  don't  do  very  much. 
As  to  'efficiency,'  the  popular  view  is 
summed  up  in  the  impression:  the  larger 
the  pay  the  smaller  the  output.  And  when 
he  is  considering  how  to  get  the  best  out  of 
his  men,  his  mind  almost  automatically 
drops  the  essential  word  and  he  finds  him- 
self thinking  how  to  get  the  best  of  them. 
The  common  attitude  is  based  on  experience, 
and  is  therefore  in  a  sense  true  to  life.  But 

1 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

it  is  far  from  being  the  whole  truth,  and  the 
day  is  not  far  distant  when  it  will  be  wholly 
untenable. 

"A  reliable  working  of  psycho-psychology 
would  help  the  manager  through  innumer- 
able difficulties.  He  would  see  what  was 
wrong  with  Scientific  Management,  as  popu- 
larly expounded,  and  very  soon  find  himself 
convinced  that  the  efficiency  of  the  human 
machine  can  be  enormously  increased.  And 
this,  not,  as  the  earlier  and  a  section  of  the 
present  exponents  of  scientific  management 
would  increase  it,  by  seeking  to  convert  an 
immortal  soul  into  a  mere  mechanism,  but 
by  means  which  are  definitely  contributory 
to  the  workman's  spiritual  and  physical 
well-being. 

"The  study  of  the  coming  science  of 
Industrial  Psychology  would  open  the  stu- 
dent's eyes  to  new  adventures  in  research, 
and  leave  him  more  than  ever  satisfied  that, 
for  colliery  managers  in  particular,  'the 

8 


Introductory 

proper  study  of  mankind  is  man.'  If  he 
could  go  through  a  wisely  directed  course  in 
social  psychology  and  in  social  science  gen- 
erally, he  would  approach  his  life's  work 
with  an  entirely  new  outlook,  and  would 
be  far  less  likely  to  set  up — or  to  permit 
others  to  set  up — those  petty  irritations 
which  lie  at  the  root  of  so  many  industrial 
disputes. 

"All  these  studies  are  attractive:  they 
are  pre-eminently  humanistic;  and,  since 
the  pursuit  of  them  inevitably  leads  the 
student  into  innumerable  and  enchanting 
bypaths,  he  is  almost  automatically  set 
going  along  a  path  of  great  national  service. " 

Further,  as  Gilbreth  points  out  in  his 
pamphlet  on  "The  Measurement  of  the 
Human  Factor  in  Industry": 

"The  first  step  in  any  great  movement 
is  to  arouse  interest  in  the  subject,  to  discuss 
the  great  problems  involved,  to  outline  the 
possible  solutions,  and  to  assign  the  various 

9 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

problems   to   those   best   fitted   to   tinder- 
take  and  handle  them. 

"The  next  step  is  to  realize  that  all  this 
discussion,  valuable  as  it  is,  can  grow  into 
such  action  as  it  deserves  only  if  measure- 
ment is  insisted  upon  from  the  very  begin- 
ning of  making  the  investigations  outlined, 
if  the  records  of  measurement  are  in  such 
form  that  they  can  be  used  by  those  who 
did  not  make  them,  that  skill  and  experience 
may  thus  be  transferred,  and  if  the  results 
of  the  measurements  are  incorporated  into 
actual  and  universal  practice  as  soon  as  they 
are  properly  synthesized  into  practical  meth- 
ods of  least  waste. 

"The  world  has  come  to  realize  the  truth 
of  this  as  applied  to  material  things.  The 
day  of  standardization  of  materials  and  of 
machines  is  far  advanced,  and  is  daily  pro- 
gressing; but  such  has  been  rarely  the  case 
with  measurement  as  applied  to  the  Human 
Element. 

10 


Introductory 

"The  design  of  machines  is  constantly 
changing;  the  human  being  is  constant. 
Measurement  on  machines  that  are  obsolete 
is  of  little  value.  Measurement  of  human 
beings  is  valuable  for  ever.  Such  old  saws 
as  'Genius  must  be  unconfmed  and  un- 
criticized, '  '  Skill  is  not  a  matter  of  measure- 
ment or  of  teaching,  but  of  natural  aptitude 
alone,'  'Expertness  is  the  same  as  efficiency 
and  the  expert  often  develops  as  a  lone 
worker  and  with  no  thanks  to  measurement,' 
have  stood  in  the  way  of  measurement. 
So  have  such  ideas  as  that  measurement 
of  the  human  factor,  and  the  supplying  of 
work  that  this  measurement  shows  to  be 
the  most  appropriate,  lead  to  monotony. 

"Now  it  is  a  matter  of  no  difficulty  to 
state  the  facts  in  their  proper  terms  to  an 
unprejudiced  and  open  mind.  Measured 
investigations  prove  that  genius  develops 
best  and  fastest  when  provided  with  such 
opportunities  as  measurement  of  the  genius 

ii 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

shows  as  necessary,  and  when  relieved  of 
all  restrictive  occupation  and  distraction. 
They  also  show  that  skill  is  largely  a  matter 
of  training,  and  that  greatest  skill  can  be 
acquired  in  the  shortest  amount  of  time 
when  right  habits  are  acquired  as  a  direct 
result  of  right  methods  having  been  taught 
from  the  start,  and  the  human  factor  in  the 
learner  and  the  teacher  having  been  care- 
fully measured. 

"Most  interesting  of  all,  perhaps,  is 
that  recent  investigations  prove  absolutely 
that  while  expertness  and  efficiency  may 
be  possessed  by  the  same  individual,  often 
the  expert  is  not  an  efficient  worker.  Many 
an  expert  worker  in  the  industries,  in  the 
professions,  and  in  the  sports  shows  every 
evidence  of  working  with  speed  and  with  a 
resulting  output  high  in  quality  and  quan- 
tity, but  with  a  resultant  fatigue  entirely 
incommensurate  with  real  efficiency.  This 
is  no  mere  theory  of  ours,  not  something 
12 


Introductory 

that  we  merely  base  on  '  what  might  be '  or 
'what  could  be'  or  'what  we  believe  is.'  It 
is  the  actual  condition  of  affairs,  as  we  can 
prove  by  records  made  on  recognized  ex- 
perts and  champions  in  numerous  lines  of 
activity. 

"As  for  the  idea  that  measurement  leads, 
directly  or  indirectly,  to  monotony — it  has 
been  the  direct  results  of  measurement  that 
have  proved  to  be  the  great  factors  in 
eliminating  monotony,  and  in  injecting 
interest  into  all  kinds  of  work. 

"Monotony  is  the  result  not  of  measur- 
ing the  activity,  or  the  human  factor  in 
the  activity,  but  of  wrong  assignment  and 
placement  to  work,  or  of  such  repetition  of 
work  that  the  mind  is  forced  to  follow  a 
cycle  of  activity  again  and  again,  with 
nothing  to  stimulate  during  the  process.  It 
is  the  measurement  that  has  resulted  in 
better  placement,  and  in  assigning  each 
individual  to  that  type  of  work  for  which  he 

13 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

will  become  best  fitted  and  that  he  finds 
interesting.  It  is  the  measurement,  and 
the  theory  and  practice  of  measurement 
that  is  taught  the  individual  at  the  work, 
that  make  him  interested  in  the  work  itself, 
in  his  motions  in  performing  it,  and  in  the 
rest  intervals  that  enable  him  to  perform 
the  most  output  with  the  least  fatigue. " 

The  Rt.  Hon.  J.  R.  Clynes,  M.P.,  in  his 
address  to  the  Annual  Labour  Conference, 
speaking  of  Co-partnership  in  Industry, 
expressed  the  following  view: 

"Men  will  not  aim  at  the  highest  output 
either  to  cheapen  the  cost  of  production  or 
to  give  a  greater  purchasing  power  to  their 
own  wages  until  they  are  satisfied  that 
greater  output  would  mean  greater  pay  for 
themselves. 

"Without  any  abuse  of  the  human  ele- 
ment in  labour  a  limit  of  physical  powers 
should  not  be  fixed  at  the  point  of  the  ut- 
most endurance  of  which  the  human  being 

14 


Introductory 

is  capable.  A  limit  even  to  industrial  pros- 
perity should  be  fixed  rather  than  work  the 
human  frame  to  death  for  some  commercial 
end.  In  short,  the  human  element  must 
dominate  future  relationships,  if  the  newer 
spirit  on  which  greater  success  can  be  based 
is  to  be  fostered.  The  spirit  and  the  tone  of 
workshop  and  factory  can  be  vastly  im- 
proved if  workers  are  made  by  their  exper- 
ience to  see  that  they  are,  in  the  real  sense 
of  the  term,  partners  in  industry  as  well  as 
producers  of  various  commodities.  The 
new  spirit  can  be  fostered  only  when  the 
masses  of  workmen  are  reached  by  a  con- 
sciousness of  sharing  in  the  control  of  the 
great  undertakings  which  they  maintain." 


CHAPTER  II 

HUMAN  EFFICIENCY 

SURVEYING  the  industrial  background 
of  modern  life,  no  question  looms  larger 
before  the  investigating  mind  than  the 
problem  of  human  efficiency.  The  centre 
of  gravity  has  shifted  from  money  to  men. 
As  we  examine  social  phenomena  today, 
the  human  factor  presents  us  with  a  task 
involving  vast  research,  land  calling  for  an 
equal  volume  of  patient  and  cautious  in- 
vestigation. The  fierce  combat  between 
man  and  the  machine  grows  with  the  years, 
and  the  whole  world  is  filled  with  the  whir 
of  wheels.  What  will  be  the  outcome  of  it 
all  no  one  dare  predict,  but  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  now  work  is  fast  becoming  scientific, 
16 


Human  Efficiency 

life  itself  takes  a  new  perspective,  and 
labour  is  more  than  ever  worth  while.  Work 
is  ceasing  to  be  irksome,  a  task,  and  is  seen 
in  its  true  relation  to  life  and  human  affairs. 
Efficiency  (a  much  abused  word)  is  our 
verbal  expression  of  the  symbol  of  one 
hundred  per  cent.,  and  how  to  attain  it  our 
chief  problem  in  every  department  of  In- 
dustry and  Commerce. 

WHAT  is  MAN  POWER? 

The  power  of  money  has  been  amply 
demonstrated  during  the  war,  and  the 
efficiency  of  mechanical  inventions  also — 
but,  up  to  the  present,  we  have  not  arrived 
at  any  true  definition  of  man  power.  Speak- 
ing scientifically,  this  is  an  unknown  power. 
It  is  futile  to  debate  the  characteristics  of 
the  Superman;  so  far  he  has  not  arrived — 
not  even  in  Germany — and  among  ordinary 
mortals  we  have  yet  to  evolve  the  standard 

17 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency' 

man.  Here,  again,  we  are  without  axioms 
to  guide  us  in  our  researches  into  the  prob- 
lem of  man  power.  Ruling  out  the  arbitrary 
idea  that  man  power  is  one-twentieth  of  one 
horse-power,  we  do  not  yet  feel  confident 
in  putting  forward  any  statement  regarding 
the  human  factor  which  shall  be  final. 

The  modern  industrial  world  presents  a 
most  complex  field  for  investigation  into  the 
background  of  economics.  In  organic  in- 
dustrial evolution,  the  attempt  at  simplifica- 
tion by  the  establishment  of  trusts  and  great 
combines  creates  no  Utopia  for  the  opera- 
tive— the  worker.  Nevertheless,  without 
men  there  would  be  neither  money  nor 
machinery.  Man  power  is  the  greatest 
power  on  earth,  yet  we  have  not  reduced  all 
our  findings  to  the  nature  of  a  graph.  Man 
is  not  a  constant,  but  a  variable,  and  the 
net  result  of  all  our  researches  hitherto  is  in 
agreement  with  that  statement.  Here  the 
problems  are  mainly  embraced  by  the  phy- 

18 


Human  Efficiency 

siological  and  psychological  sciences.  With 
the  former  we  have  been  able  to  achieve 
great  results  in  ameliorating  the  lot  of  the 
worker  and  in  general  human  betterment; 
but  in  the  domain  of  the  mind  we  have  yet 
a  great  distance  to  traverse. 

Modern  industrial  legislation  has  suc- 
ceeded in  removing  much  of  the  hard  charac- 
ter of  the  daily  task,  and  here  the  State  is 
becoming  more  paternal  in  its  interest  in 
the  worker — yet  much  escapes  the  eye  of 
the  Factory  Inspector.  In  the  realm  of 
human  betterment  we  have  not  exhausted 
our  work.  No  gospel  of  industrial  salvation 
has  been  found,  for  wages  and  remuneration 
alone  constitute  but  one  part  of  the  reward 
of  human  endeavour.  The  responsibility 
of  the  employer  does  not  end  with  the  hand- 
ing over  of  the  pay  envelope  on  the  Friday. 
He  is  responsible  in  a  larger  and  distinctly 
ethical  sense  for  the  happiness  and  for  the 
general  comfort  of  the  employee.  Indeed, 
19 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

we  will  go  so  far  as  to  state  that  the  Spen- 
cerian  doctrine  of  human  solidarity  has 
never  been  so  emphasized  as  in  our  day. 
In  industry  and  in  commerce  employer  and 
employee  stand  or  fall  together.  Here, 
however,  we  need  not  dwell — such  truths 
are  obvious  in  the  light  of  our  political  and 
social  science. 

THE  MEANING  OF  EFFICIENCY 

Today,  as  never  before,  we  are  called 
upon  to  mobilize  all  our  thoughts,  acts, 
and  emotions  in  the  name  of  Efficiency. 
We  are  summoned  to  the  battle  for  bread 
and  new  weapons  are  placed  in  our  hands 
wherewith  to  win  in  the  struggle  for  exis- 
tence. To  this  end  we  have  invented  whole 
armouries  of  devices,  and  in  our  offices  the 
number  of  machines  aiming  at  the  saving 
of  time  and  energy  is  legion,  but  we  have 
not  yet  marked  out  distinctly  the  cycle  of 
20 


Human  Efficiency 

man  power.  Efficiency  has  been  well 
termed  "the  science  of  self  -management. " 
Here,  again,  we  may  analyze  our  termi- 
nology and  well  ask  for  the  content  of  the 
word  "self,"  and  the  supplementary  word 
"management. "  We  know  that  man  has  a 
body  and  a  mind.  With  the  one  he  labours 
to  live,  with  the  other  he  peers  into  the 
mystery  of  infinity;  but,  turning  his  eyes 
inward  upon  the  mystery  of  his  own  per- 
sonality, he  is  baffled,  despite  his  use  of 
weird  and  wonderful  instruments. 

Let  it  be  stated  with  emphasis  that 
efficiency  is  not  a  mechanical  thing;  it  is 
the  science  of  life  itself.  We  have  it  on 
the  highest  authority  that  the  average  man 
uses  daily  but  fifty  per  cent,  of  his  bodily 
power,  and  seldom  more  than  twenty-five 
per  cent,  of  his  brain  power.  If  this  be 
true,  the  responsibility  for  so  serious  a  social 
problem  is  with  the  educationist.  We  are 
all  conscious  of  our  latent  powers,  but  mani- 

21 


fold  reasons   seem   constantly   present   to 
prevent  us  living  a  full  life. 

THE  RIGHT  SPIRIT  IN  INDUSTRY 

Anthropometric  science  is  as  yet  in  its 
infancy,  but  we  are  making  strides  in  the 
direction  of  solving  the  mystic  equation  of 
human  dynamics.  Notable  experiments 
are  constantly  being  carried  out  in  our 
psychological  laboratories,  and  various  text- 
books are  arriving  to  guide  us  in  our  work, 
and  instruments  of  a  highly  technical  and 
specialized  character  also. 

Classical  experiments  on  a  large  scale 
have  been  conducted  in  human  efficiency, 
aiming  at  human  happiness,  by  the  Cad- 
burys,  the  Rowntrees,  Lever  Brothers,  and 
others.  These  have  proved  what  can  be 
done  where  the  ideals  of  business  manage- 
ment are  identical,  and  where  employer  and 
employee  work  as  one.  The  restoration  of 

22 


Human  Efficiency 

the  domestic  spirit  in  industry  has  even- 
tuated in  larger  profits  and  wages  and 
greater  contentment  all  round.  This  is  the 
true  place  of  sentiment  in  business,  and 
results  abundantly  prove  that  it  pays. 

The  general  manager  of  today  will  be  the 
labour  leader  of  tomorrow.  We  know  to- 
day how  to  utilize  much  of  what  hitherto 
came  under  the  heading  of  waste,  but  we 
are  only  beginning  our  study  of  how  to  save 
time,  energy,  and  motion  on  the  purely 
human  side  of  industry. 

Since  the  introduction  of  Scientific  Man- 
agement, many  minds  have  been  engaged  in 
solving  this  problem,  and  such  results  as 
have  been  chronicled  provoke  us  to  greater 
energies  in  analyzing  the  content  of  the 
word  "work." 

In  America,  the  school  of  scientific  man- 
agement has  given  us  men  who  have  builded 
better  than  they  knew.  Meeting  with  cold 
cynicism  on  the  one  hand,  and  hot  opposi- 
23 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

tion  on  the  other,  they  nevertheless  pro- 
ceeded with  their  researches,  and  the  results 
of  their  work  constitute  a  body  of  teaching 
which  has  come  to  stay,  despite  all  opposi- 
tion on  the  part  of  Trade  Unionism.  Such 
great  names  as  Taylor,  Barth,  Gantt,  Hath- 
away, and  Gilbreth,  to  mention  only  a  few 
of  the  pioneers,  have  become  almost  as 
familiar  to  the  up-to-date  executive  as  those 
in  any  other  department  of  science.  Claim- 
ing to  be  the  apostles  of  a  new  industrial 
era,  they  have  closed  up  their  ranks  and 
fought  well  against  those  arch-enemies  of 
the  human  race,  prejudice,  tradition,  ig- 
norance, and  selfishness. 

TIME  AND  MOTION  STUDY 

The  more  important  features  of  scientific 

management  deal  with  the  twin  problems 

of  Time  and  Motion  Study,  and  Fatigue 

Study.     Much  has  already  been  achieved, 

24 


Human  Efficiency 

but  much  more  remains  to  be  accomplished 
by  the  investigators,  who  must  be  specially 
trained  for  the  complex  task  before  them. 

Foremost  of  the  investigators  is  Gilbreth, 
ably  seconded  more  recently  by  McKillop. 
The  emphasis  put  into  the  task  by  Gilbreth 
aims  at  the  elimination  of  avoidable  effort. 
For  an  exhaustive  survey  of  the  problem, 
the  reader  is  commended  to  the  well-known 
texts  by  these  writers. 

Beginning  with  intensive  studies  by  the 
aid  of  the  stop  watch,  results  were  achieved 
which,  to  the  man  new  to  the  subject,  seem 
to  be  little  short  of  the  miraculous.  Later, 
various  devices  were  invented  according 
to  the  nature  of  the  problem  attacked,  and 
in  micro-motion  study  the  cinematograph 
has  perfected  all  previous  records  and  meth- 
ods. The  analysis  of  such  simple  operations 
as  the  folding  of  a  handkerchief  revealed 
that  not  only  is  there  a  right  and  a  wrong 
way  of  doing  most  things,  but  further  it  was 
25 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

demonstrated  in  a  close  study  of  bricklaying 
that,  whereas  formerly  a  man  would  lay 
one  thousand  bricks  per  day,  under  this 
phase  of  scientific  management,  with  brief 
instruction  following  upon  a  readjustment  of 
tools  and  equipment,  the  same  man  could 
comfortably  lay  down  three  thousand  with- 
out any  extra  fatigue. 

A  SIMPLE  EXPERIMENT 

The  user  of  an  ordinary  make  of  safety 
razor  may  try  the  simple  experiment  in 
shaving  of  recording  his  motions  over  a 
given  time,  with  the  aid  of  a  watch,  and 
he  will  find  that  usually  he  makes  nearly 
250  motions  to  get  a  perfect  shave — when 
by  a  close  study  of  movement  and  the 
instrument  these  motions  can  be  reduced  to 
60. 

Whilst  Emerson  called  his  system  "Effi- 
ciency," Taylor  called  his  "Scientific  Man- 
26 


Human  Efficiency 

agement, "  but  the  results  were  largely  the 
same  in  the  direction  of  eliminating  useless 
and  wasteful  efforts,  and  finding  the  stand- 
ard or  correct  way  of  doing  the  task  set. 

The  incentive  of  the  workman  was  en- 
couraged by  a  greater  reward  for  personal 
efficiency  in  the  way  of  both  wages  and 
bonus.  The  deadening  effect  of  monotony 
(where  standardization  is  aimed  at)  was 
lost  in  the  collective  aim  towards  the 
finished  article — all  processes  of  making 
and  assembling  were  leading  up  to  the  one 
end  of  efficient  production. 

No  firm  can  hope  to  achieve  perfection 
of  product  without  devoting  much  atten- 
tion and  spending  considerable  sums  of 
money  on  the  human  plant.  All  money 
spent  here  is  sound  investment.  Reduce 
the  errors  of  the  operatives  in  production 
and  you  soon  discover  where  lies  the  secret 
of  efficiency.  This  is  the  scientific  way  of 
reducing  costs  and  increasing  output.  Such 
27 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

a  secret  has  the  character  of  an  axiom.  We 
have  efficient  machines,  and  we  have  effi- 
cient systems  of  handling  money,  but  only 
now  are  we  seriously  attacking  the  much 
more  important  problem  of  human  efficiency. 
A  close  study  of  the  human  unit  in  industry 
reveals  to  us  the  fact  that  whilst  most 
movements  of  the  body  have  a  tendency  to 
become  automatic,  yet  man  is  much  more 
than  a  highly  developed  automaton.  Here 
we  come  close  to  the  psychological  field  of 
investigation.  We  have  not  completed  our 
map  of  the  human  mind,  and  thus  far  we 
are  not  in  agreement  as  to  the  exact  mean- 
ing of  the  word  "volition." 

Reference  to  the  accompanying  diagram 
must  be  made  here  to  distinguish  in  a 
general  way  the  main  features  of  the  in- 
volved problem  of  the  worker  and  his  place 
and  power  in  the  great  industrial  world. 

In  our  investigations  into  the  foundations 
of  human  efficiency,  we  very  soon  reach 
28 


Human  Efficiency 

the  problem  of  fatigue.    Here  is  the  province 
of  Time  and  Motion  Study,  aiming  at  the 


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elimination  of  useless  and  superfluous  mo- 
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29 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

head  or  manager  who  wishes  to  establish 
this  phase  of  scientific  management  need 
not  betake  himself  to  the  task  of  becoming 
either  a  medical  student  or  a  psychological 
expert.  The  Psychotechnology  of  Munster- 
berg,  and  the  researches  of  Baldwin  and 
Ladd,  will  be  time  thrown  away  in  study 
when  experts  are  available,  ready  to  place 
in  his  hands  data  of  proved  value  by  experi- 
menting in  factory  and  workshop. 

FATIGUE 

The  Industrial  Fatigue  Research  Board 
will  confine  its  activities  to  this  problem. 
In  the  domain  of  social  and  industrial 
science,  this  marks  the  beginning  of  a  new 
era  in  these  islands,  for  hitherto  most, 
indeed  almost  all,  of  the  research  work 
upon  this  problem  has  been  undertaken  in 
the  United  States — the  home  of  scientific 
management.  Few  text-books  under  either 
30 


Human  Efficiency 

heading  have  been  written  in  Britain,  and 
little  contribution  has  been  made  to  this 
feature  of  industrial  science.  A  beginning 
has  now  been  made,  under  the  official  aegis 
of  the  Government,  and  a  body  of  eminent 
scientists,  supported  by  the  sympathetic 
interest  of  the  captains  of  industry,  will  do 
more  to  ameliorate  the  lot  of  the  worker  in 
one  decade  than  an  army  of  agitators  will 
accomplish  in  a  century. 

Industry  must  be  humanized  yet  more 
and  more,  and  hours  and  conditions  of 
labour  call  for  readjustment  in  many  trades 
and  occupations. 

Fatigue  may  be  generally  divided  into 
two  aspects — mental  and  muscular,  but  a 
strict  definition  here  would  be  difficult  to 
substantiate.  The  ergograph  is  not  the 
only  instrument  whereby  we  can  calibrate 
the  problem. 

Physiological-psychology  is  in  its  in- 
fancy, and,  though  much  of  a  theoretical 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

and  academical  character  has  been  accom- 
plished, the  hour  has  come  for  the  practical 
application  of  established  principles.  How- 
ever, armed  with  the  stop  watch  and  other 
devices,  backed  by  the  data  of  the  labora- 
tory, the  investigator  will  speedily  realize 
that  the  beginnings  of  fatigue  are  to  be 
sought  for  outside  the  factory  as  well  as 
inside. 

Leading  up  to  the  main  problem  of  fatigue 
are  subsidiary  questions  which  should  more 
or  less  be  taken  into  consideration,  and  from 
which  should  emerge  the  co-ordination  of 
the  many  departments  and  agencies  outside 
whose  aim  is  to  organize  and  humanize  our 
social  structure. 

If  we  accept  the  axiom  that  "Society  is 
an  extension  of  the  Individual,"  it  is  then 
obvious  where  we  must  begin  our  research 
work.  Ultimately  we  get  back  to  bio- 
chemistry and  psychology.  Much  may  and 
does  influence  the  life  of  the  worker  before 
32 


Human  Efficiency 

he  enters  the  gates  of  the  factory,  and  we 
may  briefly  summarize  the  wider  issues  of 
the  problem  to  be  investigated. 

SLEEP  AND  FOOD 

A  man  who  has  not  slept  well  cannot 
work  efficiently.  Again,  a  man  who  has 
not  had  proper  and  sufficient  food  cannot 
carry  out  his  daily  duties  in  a  manner 
calculated  to  keep  him  constantly  at  his 
post.  Housing  and  home-life  may  be 
reckoned  as  remote  questions,  but  never- 
theless we  shall  not  achieve  our  industrial 
perfection  until  we  get  the  State  more 
concerned  with  the  welfare  of  its  citizens. 

Our  educational  system  is  pedantic  and 
most  inefficient.  Learning  in  our  schools 
leads  in  the  long  run  nowhere.  The  rela- 
tion of  learning  to  earning  is  only  now  being 
realized  in  its  true  sense.  We  must  build 
a  bridge  from  the  school  to  the  factory,  and 
3  »  33 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

in  Vocational  Training  and  Guidance  find 
the  solution  to  one  of  the  most  urgent  ques- 
tions of  the  day. 

Before  we  hire  any  man  we  have  a  right 
(ethically  as  well  as  legally)  to  know  some- 
thing of  his  medical  history.  Who  can  state 
for  us  the  total  cost  per  annum  of  the  myriad 
lost  hours  of  work  on  account  of  sickness? 
Scientific  selection  and  adaptation  of  the 
worker  will  deliver  us  from  a  host  of  our 
factory  troubles.  Here  again  is  a  call  for 
the  expert  adviser  and  the  specialist— 
usually  a  medical  man  working  in  concert 
with  the  general  or  the  works  manager. 

The  Factory  Inspector  has  been  the 
guardian  of  the  best  interests  of  both 
employer  and  employee,  but  the  Welfare 
Supervisor  will  add  strength  to  our  collec- 
tive attempt  at  improving  and  humanizing 
the  daily  task. 

Such  problems  as  Air,  Light,  Sanitation, 
Canteens,  Recreation,  the  provision  of  Rest 
34 


Human  Efficiency 

Rooms,  First  Aid,  etc.,  will  go  far  in  making 
the  hours  in  the  factory  as  congenial  as  the 
hours  outside,  but  the  acme  will  not  be 
reached  without  intensive  research  into  the 
whole  problem.  Fatigue  is  the  parent  of 
industrial  unrest  and  social  discontent. 
Work  will  not  be  looked  upon  as  a  period 
of  penal  servitude  for  twenty  years  or  more, 
but  as  the  most  ennobling  phase  of  existence. 
The  work  card  setting  out  the  task  after  re- 
search by  the  expert  in  Time  and  Motion 
Study  will  not  be  looked  upon  as  a  sentence, 
but  as  a  challenge  to  newer  and  better 
methods  of  work. 

All  this,  however,  cannot  be  anticipated 
without  the  willing  consent  of  the  worker, 
and  a  corrected  mental  attitude  on  the 
part  of  organized  labour.  Propaganda  must 
be  undertaken  in  this  field  by  those  whose 
raison  d'etre  is  to  make  work  within  the 
factory  conducive  to  health  and  happiness. 

The  provisions  of  all  Acts  dealing  with 
35 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

employers'  liability  will  lose  some  of  their 
terrors  when  the  worker  takes  a  greater 
interest  in  his  own  welfare,  and  a  deeper 
interest  in  his  work. 

Our  hope  is  that  the  scientific  investi- 
gator of  fatigue  will  lead  us  to  something 
more  than  the  discovery  of  anti-toxins 
and  an  elusive  bacillus.  Life  may  not  be 
prolonged  by  any  appreciable  stretch  of 
years,  but  nevertheless  the  span  of  exist- 
ence will  contain  elements  which  hitherto 
have  been  conspicuously  absent  in  our 
working  world  and  every-day  life.  We  are 
assured  that  both  the  economist  and  the 
industrialist  will  pledge  their  moral  support 
to  any  body  of  savants,  investigators,  medi- 
cal and  psychological,  who  enter  the  indus- 
trial field  to  make  the  human  factor  their 
chief  study. 


CHAPTER  III 

WHAT  IS  FATIGUE? 

IT  is  undoubted  that  for  every  man  there 
is  a  certain  point  of  maximum  efficiency 
for  a  period  of  years — that  is  to  say,  output 
or  productive  capacity,  as  compared  with 
intake  or  consumption. 

Further,  if  this  is  true  of  one  man  it  is 
true  of  all  men,  and  thus  an  average  can 
be  taken  showing  the  curve  of  Industrial 
Efficiency  of  a  certain  race  under  certain 
conditions. 

A  machine  running  at  a  certain  number 
of  revolutions  with  a  definite  rate  of  feed 
would  produce  a  definite  number  of  articles 
per  hour,  and  the  machine  does  not  suffer 
from  fatigue,  only  from  wear,  and  those 
37 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

who  say  that  modern  industry  tends  to 
turn  man  into  a  machine  have  overlooked 
this  essential  difference  and  its  importance. 
What,  however,  is  fatigue?  Is  it  fatigue 
of  the  body,  or  fatigue  of  the  mind?  As  far 
as  the  former  is  concerned,  man  may  indeed 
approximate  to  a  machine,  but  no  figures 
have  shown  or  ever  will  show  that  the 
biggest  man  produces  the  greatest  output, 
except  in  special  cases,  and  the  fact  that  in 
our  curves  of  fatigue  we  take  an  average 
shows  that  there  is  an  inequality  in  man 
which  is  not  proportional  to  physical 
strength.  In  other  words,  it  is  perfectly 
clear  that  there  are  two  fatigues,  and  that 
the  most  important  is  that  of  the  mind 
or  spirit.  The  exhausted,  but  faithful  horse 
will  respond  to  the  call  of  its  master  for 
another  effort,  and  a  dog  will  obey  its 
master's  instructions,  even  if  it  drops  dead 
from  exhaustion  thereafter,  but  man  is 
master  of  his  own  mind  and  spirit ;  and  have 
38 


What  is  Fatigue? 

the  great  men  of  the  world  ever  suffered 
from  fatigue  of  the  mind,  or,  if  they  have, 
have  they  not  fought  and  overcome  it? 

Look  at  Clemenceau  and  his  indomitable 
spirit!  Is  it  greed  that  makes  him  work, 
desire  for  money,  or  power,  or  show,  or 
anything  that  the  pseudo-Socialists  pretend 
is  the  driving  force  of  humanity  and  the 
cause  of  civilization?  A  million  times, 
No!  It  is  merely  that  greatest  of  virtues, 
Love  of  Country.  To  love  your  own  family, 
work  for  them  and  protect  them,  is  indeed 
worthy,  but  in  that  man  is  hardly  better 
than  an  animal;  but  a  nation  which  con- 
sists of  an  aggregate  of  homes  can  only 
appeal  to  a  man's  altruistic  sense,  which  is 
denied  animals,  so  that  patriotism,  or  love 
of  your  country,  is  the  principal  line  of 
demarcation  between  man  and  animals. 

But  we  cannot  all  be  Clemenceaus, 
although  it  is  an  undoubted  fact  that  no 
successful  man — that  is  to  say,  deservedly 

39 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

successful  man,  one  who  has  achieved  his 
success  by  his  own  efforts  and  not  at  the 
expense  of  others — has  ever  allowed  fatigue 
of  the  mind  to  overcome  him. 

Does  the  man  who  works  ten,  twelve, 
fourteen,  sixteen  hours  a  day — and  real 
work,  that  is,  concentrating  all  his  energies 
of  mind  and  body  on  what  he  is  doing — not 
suffer  from  fatigue?  Of  course  he  does, 
but  he  does  not  think  about  his  fatigue,  but 
about  his  work. 

The  inefficient  and  the  lazy  envy  the 
successful  man,  for  when  a  man  works  hard 
but  is  not  successful,  as  often  happens — 
for  there  is  luck,  after  all,  in  this  world — 
they  say  he  is  a  fool;  and  have  they  ever 
realized  that  a  man  who  does  his  appointed 
task  and  no  more  remains  what  he  is,  where- 
as the  man  who  throughout  his  life  does 
more  may  become,  in  himself,  a  hundred 
or  a  thousand  men,  for  that  extra  little  bit 
of  work  day  after  day,  week  after  week, 
40 


What  is  Fatigue? 

year  after  year,  means  that  in  this  one  man 
is  stored  knowledge  and  experience,  which 
thousands  of  men  together  cannot  equal? 
There  is  no  simile  in  nature,  because  man's 
power  of  accumulating  knowledge  is  un- 
limited, his  mind  knows  no  frontier. 

Returning  now  to  our  curves  of  output 
and  fatigue,  it  becomes  obvious  that  in- 
stead of  accepting  the  average  figure  as  a 
fact  we  ought  to  look  upon  it  as  a  starting- 
point  and  endeavour  to  raise  all  men,  not 
to  the  average,  but  to  the  highest  point — 
and  it  is  possible.  It  is  merely  a  question 
of  a  man  taking  an  interest  in  his  work. 
No  one  really  likes  work,  yet  civilization 
depends  upon  work,  and  the  most  civilized 
man  is  one  who  has  compelled  himself  to 
overcome  his  natural  disinclination  to  work. 
Interest  is  the  secret  of  concentration. 

The  skilled  artisans  today  show  little 
better  spirit,  for  had  they  realized  that 
they  are  the  wealth-makers,  or  that  all 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

wealth  is  due  to  skill  and  brains,  they  would 
never  have  permitted  the  unskilled  workers 
to  usurp  authority  or  dictate  to  the  rest 
of  the  community  their  share  of  the  wealth 
in  the  production  of  which  they  are  the 
least  important  factor. 

The  pretence  of  the  social  reformers  that 
machines  have  killed  the  interest  of  the 
workers  will  not  stand  examination,  for  if 
every  man  desired  to  do  his  best  he  would 
take  an  interest  in  his  output  and  would 
think  how  this  could  be  increased,  and 
every  day  he  would  go  home  and  feel  that 
he  had  done  something  worth  while. 

The  cause  of  industrial  mind  fatigue  is 
due  to  the  delusion  that  whereas  a  man 
works  for  a  wage,  his  employer  works  for 
profit,  whereas  the  employer  has  first  of  all 
to  work  in  order  to  pay  his  wages.  The 
relation  between  wages,  work,  and  profit  is, 
however,  a  matter  of  pure  economics  and 
belongs  to  that  branch  of  science. 
42 


What  is  Fatigue? 

FATIGUE  AND  EFFICIENCY 

It  is  difficult  to  determine  precisely  the 
content  of  the  phrase  "Mental  Efficiency." 
Consciousness  consists  of  a  variety  of 
mental  states,  chiefly  that  of  feeling,  which 
may  be  likened  to  a  change  in  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  stream  of  sensation  entering 
the  mind. 

Every  human  being  is  more  or  less  a 
perpetual  riot  of  thoughts  and  feelings, 
and  the  greatest  of  all  arts  is  the  art  of 
self-control.  Possibly  in  the  absolute  sense 
no  human  being  has  ever  achieved  this 
desirable  end.  It  may  be  regarded  as  an 
axiom  that  before  we  can  control  ourselves 
we  must  know  ourselves.  Will-power  for 
effective  action  is  the  one  desideratum  of 
all  human  studies.  We  have  only  to  watch 
some  men  at  their  work  speedily  to  recog- 
nize the  fact  that  they  have  the  utmost 
difficulty  in  escaping  from  their  ancestors. 
43 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

The  day  is  not  far  distant  when,  in  addition 
to  a  man's  medical  history,  supported  by 
adequate  testimonials  as  to  his  ethical  value 
or  degree  of  reb' ability,  we  shall  find  it 
necessary  to  ask  every  candidate  for  em- 
ployment to  produce  his  personal  efficiency 
chart,  and  from  that  data  remuneration 
can  be  fixed,  and  only  in  this  way  or  some 
such  way,  when  both  body  and  mind  have 
been  examined,  will  a  person  be  employed, 
adapted  to  the  task,  and  if  necessary  trained 
for  it,  and  so  work  will  become  scientific 
and  the  highest  results  be  obtained. 

It  is  a  totally  wrong  idea  that  man  is 
merely  a  machine.  Man  is  a  machine  plus 
something  indefinable  which  has  never 
been  fully  explained  by  either  philosopher 
or  man  of  science.  Fatigue  of  the  mind  is 
the  most  troublesome  of  human  ills,  but  a 
man  must  be  taught  how  to  be  the  master 
of  his  mind,  and  the  most  successful  men 
in  business  are  those  who  fight  hardest 
44 


What  is  Fatigue? 

against  this  form  of  fatigue  and  continue 
to  carry  on  the  work.  It  is  the  extra  work 
and  the  overcoming  of  fatigue  which  give 
him  his  experience  and  success  and  make  the 
successful  man  the  envy  of  the  inefficient. 

The  elimination  of  fatigue  will  often  be 
solved,  not  by  some  mysterious  laboratory 
process,  but  by  a  mental  effort  on  the  part 
of  the  individual. 

The  man  who  takes  a  real  live  interest 
in  his  work  seldom  suffers  from  fatigue. 
Interest  is  the  secret  of  concentration,  as 
much  as  observation  and  comparison  ex- 
plain effective  thinking.  Few  men  really 
like  work  as  such,  and,  with  many  men,  one 
of  the  greatest  battles  in  life  is  to  overcome 
this  incipient  disinclination  to  work. 

The  human  mind  is  the  unseen  power 
which  dominates  the  business  of  the  world. 
Without  the  mind  of  man  we  should  have 
neither  the  machinery  nor  money  which  is 
essential  to  carry  on  the  work  of  life. 
45 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

However  strange  it  may  sound,  the  human 
mind  is  the  least  developed  side  of  a  man's 
life.  Mechanical  efficiency  reached  a  height 
undreamed  of  a  decade  ago,  but  the  scien- 
tific development  of  the  human  mind  is 
only  just  begun,  and  if  we  are  to  reconstruct 
the  life  of  the  world  and  increase  our  general 
output  of  work,  we  must  begin  to  look  for 
the  improvement  of  the  individual  as  well 
as  the  machine.  Here,  however,  the  great 
fault  lies  in  the  direction  of  the  fact  that  so 
much  of  human  energy  is  allowed  to  run 
waste.  The  work  we  do  must  be  of  some 
practical  value  or  else  it  is  nothing  but  physi- 
cal and  mental  strain  and  a  vast  volume  of 
wasted  labour. 

A  man  has  two  kinds  of  work  to  perform 
in  this  world,  physical  and  mental,  and  if 
it  is  true  that  the  average  man  uses  fifty 
per  cent,  of  his  bodily  power  and  about 
one-fourth  of  his  brain  power,  it  is  small 
wonder  that  the  world  is  filled  with  more 
46 


What  is  Fatigue? 

or  less  useless  effort.  Someone  has  face- 
tiously said  that  a  man  is  worth  but  45. 
per  day  from  the  chin  downward,  but  no 
one  thus  far  has  been  able  to  calculate  the 
value  of  the  mechanism  behind  and  above 
the  eyes. 

This  is  the  great  problem  confronting  our 
modern  psychologists.  No  form  of  en- 
gineering is  so  great  in  importance  as 
Human  Engineering,  as  Edison  so  aptly 
termed  it.  We  understand  full  well  the 
power  possessed  by  money  and  machinery, 
but  we  do  not  yet  realize  what  man  power 
really  is. 

As  we  have  already  indicated,  the  centre 
of  gravity  has  shifted  from  money  to  men 
in  business.  Man  counts  everywhere,  all 
the  time,  in  everything.  Therefore  it  is  our 
duty  to  make  the  most  of  this  great  factor 
lying  within  our  grasp.  In  order  to  do  this 
we  must  begin  in  school  life  to  train  the 
individual  to  be  efficient  by  improving  both 
47 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

physical  and  mental  conditions.  It  is  true 
that  we  have  made  some  progress  in  improv- 
ing man  bodily,  but  with  regard  to  mental 
improvement  we  have  far  to  go,  and  with 
such  imperious  facts  before  us  we  express 
our  profound  regret  that  no  means  of  indus- 
trial salvation  has  ever  been  found. 

It  is  a  mistaken  idea  that  the  employer's 
responsibility  ends  when  his  men  are  paid 
their  wages.  For  is  the  employer  not  to- 
day more  than  ever  responsible  for  their 
welfare  when  they  are  outside  the  factory 
as  well  as  inside?  Because  he  engages  at 
least  one-third  of  the  life  of  each  individual 
in  productive  effort,  it  is  therefore  his  duty 
to  provide  them  with  some  means  of  healthy 
recreation,  and  in  this  respect  the  example 
of  the  Cadburys  marked  the  beginning  of 
a  new  industrial  era  in  these  islands. 

It  is  futile  to  ask  "Does  it  pay?"  for  here 
the  results  are  not  only  a  hundredfold,  but 
sometimes  a  thousandfold.  Take  the  other 
48 


What  is  Fatigue? 

side  of  the  picture,  a  factory  built  in  an  evil 
neighbourhood,  closed  in  with  dirty  win- 
dows, no  stops  for  rest,  no  canteens,  no 
welfare  work  whatever,  the  whole  place 
looking  like  the  combination  of  a  prison 
and  a  workhouse,  and  then  ask  what  right 
the  employer  has  to  look  for  efficiency  of 
production,  ever-increasing  profits,  and  a 
swelling  balance  at  the  bank.  This,  to  say 
the  least,  is  a  reductio  ad  absurdum.  This  is 
the  reason  of  industrial  unhappiness,  cease- 
less strikes,  war  between  capital  and  labour, 
and  subdued  hatred  of  employers  as  a  class. 
Never  under  such  conditions  will  the  maxi- 
mum of  result  be  obtained  with  the  mini- 
mum expenditure  of  time,  energy,  and 
money. 

The  power  lying  dormant  in  man  is  an 
unknown  power,  though  here  we  are  not 
contemplating  the  Superman.  We  are  all 
conscious  of  our  possibilities,  though  we 
seldom  realize  them,  and  when  we  look 
4  49 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

backward  we  note  innumerable  occasions 
where  we  could  have  done  better  with  a 
little  more  forethought  and  effort.  The 
fact  is,  the  average  man  will  not  plan  his 
life,  therefore  he  either  stands  idle,  or  marks 
time  and  watches  others  pass  him  on  the 
road  to  preferment.  He  has  little  courage 
to  face  the  future,  is  possibly  handicapped 
by  the  past,  stands  hesitating  in  the  present, 
and  is  often  content  to  let  well  alone.  Until 
he  is  lifted  from  the  rut  in  which  he  finds 
himself  and  given  the  impetus  to  forge 
ahead,  there  is  little  hope  of  any  progress 
being  made.  Here,  then,  we  have  to  give 
attention  to  Scientific  Management;  having 
observed  the  results  achieved  by  the  appli- 
cation of  the  scientific  method  to  business 
in  America  and  in  our  own  country,  we  are 
strongly  of  opinion — indeed,  it  is  our  con- 
viction— that  here  we  shall  find  the  true 
solution  of  those  evils  which  constantly 
smite  us  inside  and  outside  our  factory  life. 
50 


What  is  Fatigue? 

Scientific  Management  aims  at  the  elimi- 
nation of  all  avoidable  fatigue,  waste  of 
effort,  and  useless  motion.  It  is  obvious 
to  remark  in  the  first  place  that  the  estab- 
lishment of  such  principles  will  confer  an 
inestimable  boon  upon  the  worker,  for  we 
are  well  aware  that  in  every  factory  and 
organization  there  is  much  wastage  of  time 
and  effort. 

If  the  reader  will  betake  himself  to  the 
books  of  Gilbreth,  McKillop,  Munsterberg, 
and  others,  evidence  will  be  given  in  sub- 
stantiation of  these  statements  of  an  un- 
impeachable character.  In  this  connection 
it  is  the  intention  of  the  author  to  supple- 
ment this  present  volume,  which  is  of  a 
general  character,  by  a  further  volume 
upon  Industrial  Psychology  of  an  intensive 
and  exhaustive  character.  When  we  have 
been  able  to  find  out  a  man's  capabilities, 
and  to  make  a  map  of  his  mind  and  a  gen- 
eral chart  of  his  efficiency  value,  we  shall 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

then  be  able  to  fit  him  to  a  task  whereby 
he  will  be  able  to  attain  his  highest  degree  of 
efficiency.  But  unfortunately  this  branch 
of  what  is  a  new  science  has  not  had  enough 
attention  paid  to  it  to  render  the  results  of 
investigators  of  real  service. 

"Speaking  in  general  terms,  a  man  is 
efficient  in  business  life  when  he  devotes 
his  energies  to  the  tasks  which  lie  before 
him  with  such  wisdom  that  all  are  properly 
and  successfully  done.  It  has  been  well 
stated  that  to  get  a  clear  idea  of  efficiency 
let  us  think  of  man  as  a  bundle  of  energy, 
mental  and  physical,  which  must  expend 
itself  subject  to  the  law  of  space  and  time, 
the  highest  degree  of  efficiency  being  ob- 
tained when  a  given  amount  of  energy  is  so 
wisely  directed  that  a  task  is  completed  in 
the  least  possible  space  and  after  the  lapse 
of  the  least  possible  time. 

The  essence  of  efficiency  is  the  economy 
of  energy,  time,  and  space.  When  any 
52 


What  is  Fatigue? 

one  of  these  three  is  wasted,  or  consumed 
without  a  desired  result,  we  have  loss  of 
"efficiency." 

We  need  a  new  type  of  engineer  who 
shall  be  called  the  Human  Engineer.  His 
qualifications  shall  be  training  in  physi- 
ology and  medical  science,  studies  and 
research  in  a  psychological  laboratory,  and 
full  knowledge  of  the  conditions  which 
obtain  within  the  walls  of  the  factory, 
supplemented  by  adequate  information  with 
reference  to  modern  industrial  legislation. 
In  such  a  person  we  should  combine  ideal 
elements,  and  if  attached  to  the  general 
manager  as  a  specialist,  his  services  would 
soon  be  reckoned  as  indispensable  no  matter 
by  what  term  his  position  on  the  executive 
was  called.  This  is  the  age  of  specialization, 
and  inasmuch  as  no  man  can  in  himself  dis- 
charge all  executive  functions,  the  wise  busi- 
ness administrator  will  therefore  seek  for  such 
person  and  if  necessary  pay  for  his  training. 
53 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  FACTOR 

It  has  been  observed  that  the  work  of 
the  world  depends  on  two  factors,  viz.,  per- 
sons and  things,  or,  to  use  another  phrase,  the 
dynamic  and  the  static  factors.  Too  much 
thought  and  attention  have  been  devoted 
to  things,  and  consequently  the  true  place 
of  the  human  factor  has  not  been  discovered. 

But  we  are  now  beginning  to  realize  that, 
in  the  competitive  business  of  the  present 
day,  mental  power  is  far  more  important 
than  material  power;  the  old  order  of  things 
must  be  reversed.  Up  to  the  present  we 
have  first  considered  machinery  and  then 
we  proceeded  to  think  of  men  and  the  condi- 
tions of  their  labour.  Now,  however,  we 
are  beginning  to  think  of  man  first  and 
machinery  second.  The  efficient  human 
factor  is  what  we  are  seeking  for  in  the 
present  world  of  business.  It  is  the  thinking 
man  that  we  require. 
54 


What  is  Fatigue? 

But  what  is  thought?  Thought  put  into 
iron  makes  an  engine,  thought  applied  to 
sound  produces  the  Messiah;  thought  is 
put  into  a  quarry  and  a  cathedral  rises; 
thought  put  into  stone  creates  a  city; 
thought  put  into  our  factories  and  or- 
ganized for  efficient  production  produces  a 
myriad  things  to  supply  the  needs  of  the 
world. 

We  fully  realize  that  thought  is  the  domi- 
nant factor  in  business.  Men  are  paid  more 
for  mental  capacity  than  physical  ability. 
As  is  the  case  with  electricity,  so  with 
thought:  we  do  not  know  precisely  what  it 
is,  but  we  do  know  how  to  harness  it  and 
direct  it  into  productive  channels  to  make 
it  accomplish  whatever  work  we  wish  to  do. 

All  the  knowledge  which  we  gain  enters 
the  mind  through  one  of  the  five  senses. 
We  begin  to  sensate  and  think ;  thus  mental 
and  physical  energy  are  set  up  in  the  brain 
in  the  form  of  vibrations,  and  so  feeling 
55 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

and  action  result.  We  may  say  that  feel- 
ing depends  upon  thought.  Here  we  are 
reminded  of  what  Shakespeare  says :  ' '  There 
is  nothing  either  good  or  bad,  but  thinking 
makes  it  so."  We  feel  infinitely  more  than 
we  think;  indeed,  we  may  say  that  in  the 
life  of  the  average  man  one-third  is  intellect 
and  two-thirds  is  sentiment.  The  chief 
aim  of  the  business  man  should  be  so  to 
control  his  feelings  that  he  can  think  more 
clearly  and  act  with  greater  decision  and 
precision.  Chaos  reigns  where  sentiment 
controls  judgment.  The  whole  secret  of 
clear  thinking  lies  in  the  two  words  "obser- 
vation" and  "comparison."  It  is  essential 
that  the  five  senses  are  trained  correctly, 
then  our  thinking  and  working  will  be  effi- 
cient, and  here  we  have  the  foundations  of 
our  Science  of  Efficiency.  The  following  ob- 
servations of  Dr.  Joseph  French  Johnson 
are  very  significant  on  this  point 

"  Know    thyself!      Socrates,    the    Greek 
56 


What  is  Fatigue? 

philosopher,  held  that  a  man  took  the  first 
step  toward  knowledge  when  he  recognized 
the  fact  that  he  knew  nothing,  and  that  the 
second  step  must  be  to  study  himself. 

"Socrates  was  right,  but  very  few  people 
know  what  he  really  meant.  Most  of  us 
do  much  more  idle  thinking  about  ourselves 
than  is  good  for  us;  what  we  would  do  if 
we  were  rich,  how  brave  we  would  be  if  our 
courage  could  only  be  dramatically  tested, 
what  great  things  we  would  accomplish  if 
we  only  had  opportunity,  what  useful  books 
we  would  write  if  we  could  only  travel,  how 
much  good  we  would  do  in  the  world  if  we 
only  had  power.  But  all  this  is  just  dream- 
ing and  romancing  about  oneself.  It  is  not 
studying  ourselves.  The  object  of  study  is 
to  get  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  which  pheno- 
mena obey.  We  study  astronomy,  for 
example,  to  discover  the  law  Vhich  controls 
the  movements  of  the  planets  in  the  heavens. 
We  study  chemistry  in  order  that  we  might 
57 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

know  the  laws  governing  the  combinations 
of  material  elements.  To  study  yourself, 
therefore,  means  that  you  must  think  of 
yourself  impersonally  and  endeavour  to 
find  out  what  you  are  capable  of  doing  and 
what  motives  impel  you  to  action.  Many 
a  man  knows  less  about  himself  than  he  does 
about  his  horse  or  his  dog.  A  spirited  horse 
cannot  be  safely  driven  by  a  man  who  does 
not  know  him.  Most  of  us  study  our  friends 
more  than  we  do  ourselves  and  could  pass 
a  better  examination  on  their  qualities 
than  we  could  on  our  own.  A  man  is  too 
prone  to  think  that  he  can  accept  himself 
as  a  highly  finished  product  and  that  this 
world  would  be  a  paradise  if  only  other 
people  were  better. 

"You  are  a  very  complicated  machine, 
and  you  are  always  the  person  that  can 
drive  it,  or  in  any  way  improve  it.  Your 
friends  may  know  a  great  deal  about  your 
powers,  mental  and  physical,  and  about 
58 


What  is  Fatigue? 

your  deficiences  and  efficiencies,  but  they 
cannot  remake  you.  If  you  want  your 
machine  to  be  in  the  best  possible  running 
order  and  to  do  the  work  for  which  it  is 
best  fitted,  you  must  know  it  more  thor- 
oughly than  you  do  your  horse  or  dog. 
Once  knowing  your  powers  and  their  limita- 
tions, you  will  then  be  able  to  set  for  your- 
self a  goal  which  you  can  reach. 

"What,  then,  is  personal  efficiency?  We 
get  the  root  meaning  from  the  Latin  word 
efficio,  which  means  'I  do  thoroughly/  A 
man  becomes  efficient  when  his  mind  is 
organized  and  he  devotes  his  thinking  capa- 
city directly  upon  all  the  activities  of  his 
life.  The  essence  of  efficiency  is  to  think 
out  the  very  best  means  of  economizing 
materials,  energy,  time,  and  space. 

"It  is  one  of  the  greatest  tragedies  in 
our  modern  civilization  that  we  have  so 
few  real  thinkers.  Many  business  men  neg- 
lect their  thinking  powers  and  have  little 
59 


Human  and  industrial  Efficiency 

use  for  the  intellectual  life  as  such.  Con- 
verse with  them  outside  the  region  of  their 
own  particular  line  of  business  life  and  we 
soon  find  that  their  mental  capacity  is 
strictly  limited.  The  real  reason  of  this  is 
that  they  do  not  and  will  not  use  their  capaci- 
ty to  observe  and  Compare.  Mental  poverty 
is  the  great  barrier  to  executive  power. " 

Personality  may  be  split  up  into  four 
divisions:  first  intellect,  secondly  feeling, 
thirdly  body,  and  finally  will-power.  To 
achieve  personal  efficiency  a  man  must 
obtain  all  four  of  these,  and  above  all  things, 
to  become  mentally  efficient  he  must  culti- 
vate his  thinking,  observing,  and  reasoning 
powers. 

To  possess  effective  feelings,  he  must 
develop  his  ambition  and  his  loyalty.  These 
are  fundamentals  in  our  examination  of  the 
word  "service."  Strength  and  health  must 
be  cultivated  to  obtain  the  maximum  of 
health  of  the  body,  and  if  a  man  is  to  become 
60 


What  is  Fatigue? 

efficient  in  will-power  he  must  develop  his 
initiative,  decision,  and  perseverance.  The 
chief  of  the  five  senses  necessary  for  the 
development  of  the  successful  business  mind 
are  seeing  and  hearing.  The  great  reason 
for  high  expenditure  in  business  today  is 
that  so  much  supervision  is  required,  em- 
ployees have  to  be  told  how  and  when  to  do 
a  thing,  and  because  their  work  has  to  be 
checked  so  often  they  obtain  comparatively 
small  remuneration. 

It  is  essential  that  the  cost  of  supervision 
should  be  reduced;  this  can  only  be  done 
by  Staff  Training.  The  minds  of  the  opera- 
tives must  be  well  trained  and  organized 
before  we  can  do  away  with  the  great 
volume  of  waste.  Men  must  be  taught  to 
think,  see,  and  remember,  and  their  initia- 
tive must  be  encouraged.  This  is  one  of  the 
tasks  of  Applied  Psychology  and  one  of  the 
most  important  departments  of  Scientific 
Management. 

61 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

Only  by  the  application  of  the  Scientific 
method  can  we  reduce  supervision  and 
eliminate  the  fatal  factors  of  waste  and 
fatigue.  Business  men  must  be  taught 
sanity  of  outlook.  They  sigh  for  new 
worlds  to  conquer,  but  they  cannot  take 
advantage  of  the  ground  already  lying 
within  their  grasp.  They  overlook  the  fact 
that  much  more  depends  upon  their  own 
personality  and  efficiency  than  on  the 
bank  balance  and  the  armies  of  employees 
they  engage.  When  they  are  themselves 
efficient,  they  must  teach  their  employees 
to  be  so  too.  In  business  no  man  can  afford 
to  make  mistakes,  for  all  mistakes  have  to 
be  paid  for,  sometimes  by  both  the  em- 
ployee and  the  employer.  In  Scientific 
Business  Management  the  training  and 
fitting  of  employees  for  the  task  is  the  one 
ever-pressing  problem.  A  man  in  whom  the 
five  senses  are  highly  developed  is  infinitely 
more  valuable  than  the  one  whose  senses 
62 


What  is  Fatigue? 

are  undeveloped.  The  man  who  has  been 
the  subject  of  intensive  mental  as  well  as 
technical  training  is  able  to  render  much 
greater  service  to  the  employer. 

Our  task  then  in  the  future  is  to  specialize 
more  upon  what  we  may  reasonably  term 
the  human  plant.  The  advent  of  the  psy- 
chologist in  the  factory  is  the  most  momen- 
tous step  in  modern  industrial  evolution. 
This  type  of  specialist  engaged  upon  human 
engineering  will  do  more  in  one  year  to 
promote  efficiency  of  organization  than,  an 
army  of  factory  inspectors  in  a  decade. 
Engineers  are  greatly  concerned  with  the 
efficiency  of  the  mechanical  plant  and  the 
processing  of  material  through  the  factory, 
but  the  human  engineer  goes  to  the  very 
root  of  a  problem  of  production. 

The   accountant   will    still    continue   to 

indicate    where    profits    are    leaking,    the 

industrial  engineer  will  chart  out  and  mark 

the  curves  of  inefficient  production,  but  the 

63 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

industrial  psychologist  who  aims  at  the 
elimination  of  fatigue  and  wasteful  move- 
ment will  achieve  results  little  short  of  the 
miraculous. 

The  first  and  only  problem  for  any  ex- 
ecutive or  operative  is  himself.  We  talk 
with  pride  of  Livingstone,  Peary,  Scott,  and 
Shackleton,  but  the  greatest  discoverer  in 
the  world  is  he  who  has  discovered  himself. 

Men  differ  quite  as  much  as  dogs.  No 
dog  fancier  would  think  of  training  a  water 
spaniel  to  do  the  work  of  a  pointer.  Tem- 
perament or  disposition  seems  to  be  funda- 
mental and  unchangeable.  A  man  who 
wishes  to  make  himself  100  per  cent,  efficient 
must  certainly  take  it  into  account. 

A  man  of  a  highly  mental  and  nervous 
temperament  should  manifestly  not  enter 
upon  a  career  in  which  physical  endurance 
or  muscular  power  is  essential  to  efficiency. 
A  man  who  dislikes  intellectual  effort,  but 
loves  physical  activity,  should  choose  a 
64 


What  is  Fatigue? 

calling  in  which  muscular  dexterity  and 
power  are  a  real  asset.  The  man  who  in- 
stinctively dreads  loneliness  or  monotony, 
but  who  will  work  with  tremendous  energy 
if  he  has  companions  and  variety,  should 
choose  a  business  which  will  give  him  plenty 
of  human  contact.  The  man  more  given  to 
meditation  and  philosophy  than  to  action 
should  not  assume  business  responsibilities. 
He  may  be  a  fairly  good  routine  worker  in 
business,  like  Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  the 
great  American  novelist,  or  like  Charles 
Lamb,  one  of  England's  choicest  essayists, 
but  he  will  not  be  really  a  business  man. 

If  a  man  studies  himself  he  will  know 
his  own  temperament  and  be  in  a  position 
to  choose  that  career  for  which  he  is  per- 
sonally best  fitted  and  to  fit  himself  for  it 
by  the  right  kind  of  training.  What  his 
training  ought  to  be  depends  entirely  upon 
the  peculiarities  of  his  temperament.  A 
standard  training  suitable  for  all  is  im- 
65 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

possible.  Each  man  must  be  his  own 
schoolmaster. 

It  must  be  evident  that  a  man  cannot 
do  all  that  has  been  prescribed  unless  he 
has  trained  his  mind  to  be  an  obedient  ser- 
vant. The  whole  aim  of  education  on  the 
intellectual  side  should  be  to  develop  the 
power  of  clear  and  honest  thinking.  A 
man  whose  mind  delivers  to  him  judgments 
perverted  by  passion  or  prejudice  has  an  in- 
efficient mind.  His  first  duty  is  one  of  men- 
tal discipline.  He  must  correct  his  mental 
bias  and  make  his  mind  look  straight  into 
the  heart  of  things. 

It  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  convince  a 
man  that  his  mental  processes  are  not 
entirely  normal. 

And,  of  course,  it  is  almost  paradoxical 
to  expect  the  man  to  discover  the  fact 
himself.  This  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  it 
is  so  important  that  a  country's  educational 
system  be  of  the  right  kind,  and  that  our 
66 


What  is  Fatigue? 

public  school  teachers  seek  to  develop  their 
pupils'  judgment  and  reasoning  power  as 
well  as  to  store  their  memories  with  infor- 
mation about  matters  geographical  and 
historical.  To  be  on  the  safe  side  a  man 
seeking  to  increase  his  efficiency  should 
assume  that  his  mind  needs  all  the  training 
that  he  can  possibly  give  it.  Perhaps  he 
cannot  go  to  a  school  or  to  a  university, 
but  that  is  not  necessary.  Scientific  books 
are  numerous  and  cheap.  Let  him  take  up 
some  science  and  thoroughly  master  it. 
Let  him  think  as  he  reads,  and  so  discipline 
his  mind  in  the  pursuit  of  truth.  No  man 
is  too  old  to  take  up  a  new  science  with 
interest,  and  no  man's  mind  is  so  fine  and 
efficient  that  further  study  and  discipline 
will  not  improve  it.  The  man  who  lets  his 
mind  lie  fallow  for  long  intervals  will  often 
fall. 

If    the    maximum    possible    value    were 
produced  by  a  given  effort,  the  efficiency 
67 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

would  be  perfect  and  might  be  properly 
expressed  as  "  i "  or  100  per  cent.  In  point 
of  fact,  when  dealing  with  human  beings, 
it  is  impossible  to  do  more  than  compare 
the  efficiency  of  different  individuals;  but 
it  is  very  noticeable  that  one  man  may  be 
more  fatigued  by  a  given  task  than  another, 
not  only  on  account  of  his  different  physical 
state,  but  owing  to  the  different  manner  in 
which  he  performs  the  task,  whether  it  be 
physical  or  mental.  Should  the  work  re- 
quired to  be  done  vary,  the  efficiency  should 
be  kept  at  its  maximum,  and  the  effort  thus 
saved  be  used  either  in  further  productive 
work,  training,  or  recreation. 

There  are  four  main  factors  in  the  pro- 
duction of  wealth — material,  energy,  time, 
and  direction:  energy  is  here  used  as  the 
source  of  all  mechanical  forces  whether  in 
coal,  a  waterfall,  the  tides,  etc.  (external), 
or  muscular  (in  a  human  being).  "Direc- 
tion" signifies  the  part  played  by  intelli- 
68 


What  is  Fatigue? 

gence  in  production,  whether  it  is  the  skill  of 
the  miner  which  enables  him  to  make  the 
best  use  of  his  muscular  power  and  tools,  or 
of  the  man  of  science  who  invents  a  new 
process,  or  of  the  organizer  who  applies  and 
carries  out  the  process.  Of  these  factors  the 
last  is  the  most  important,  at  any  rate  from 
the  point  of  view  that  only  by  its  develop- 
ment can  the  productivity  of  industry  be 
materially  increased. 

An  individual  engaged  in  business  may 
have  at  his  command,  in  greater  or  less 
degree,  capital,  connections,  strength,  tech- 
nical skill,  and  other  personal  qualities. 
The  two  first  have  always  been  produced 
for  the  individual,  possibly  by  him,  through 
the  exercise  of  the  last  three;  thus  we  see 
that  the  fundamental  values  of  the  indivi- 
dual are  his  strength,  skill,  and  personality. 

These  qualities  are  the  resultant  of 
heredity,  environment,  and  training  acting 
through  and  on  the  individual — "through" 
69 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

in  so  far  as  he  is  able  by  the  exercise  of  his 
will  and  partial  power  of  choice  to  select  his 
environment  and  training  and  determine 
the  use  he  shall  make  of  them.  The  im- 
portance of  the  power  of  the  individual  to 
control  his  development  cannot  be  over- 
estimated. 

The  higher  the  position  held,  the  greater 
the  importance  of  personality  in  business. 
Every  possible  quality  has  either  a  helpful 
or  a  hindering  effect,  which  we  may  express 
by  calling  them  positive  and  negative  quali- 
ties. Some  qualities  are  invariably  positive 
or  negative,  whatever  the  conditions  and 
in  whatever  intensity  the  qualities  exist, 
but  others  may  need  qualification.  Thus 
laziness  is  always  a  vice,  but  strength  of 
will,  though  generally  a  virtue,  may  cease 
to  be  one  if  carried  to  extremes  in  certain 
circumstances.  Strength  of  will  must  be 
qualified  by  adaptability  and  respect  for 
authority,  generosity  by  the  sense  of  one's 
70 


What  is  Fatigue? 

own  advantage,  self-confidence  by  discre- 
tion, but  honesty,  energy,  sympathy,  power 
of  concentration,  etc.,  can  be  nothing  but 
assets. 

The  power  of  perception,  conception, 
analysis,  synthesis,  and  reason  must  be 
continually  at  work  in  order  to  make  the 
best  use  of  the  available  factors  of  produc- 
tion— in  fact,  in  order  to  realize  what 
factors  are  available ;  for  instance,  in  hardly 
any  factory  is  the  force  of  gravitation  made 
sufficient  use  of,  or  the  factory  designed  so 
that  it  can  be  used  to  the  greatest  possible 
extent.  In  the  organization  of  a  business, 
besides  appreciating  the  monetary  situation 
it  is  necessary  to  learn  from  past  experience 
and  to  be  able  to  forecast  the  future;  these 
functions  give  scope  for  every  faculty. 

But  it  is  in  actual  dealings  with  men, 
face  to  face,  that  the  importance  of  person- 
ality is  most  marked.  Problems  of  labour 
control  and  organization  are  assuming 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

greater  importance  every  year,  and  in  order 
to  deal  with  them  satisfactorily,  broad 
views,  a  deep  knowledge  of  human  nature, 
and  the  power  of  appreciating  the  point  of 
view  of  others  are  most  necessary.  If  the 
character  and  personality  of  an  employer 
are  not  such  that  his  employees  are  naturally 
disposed  to  trust  him,  there  will  be  con- 
tinual friction  and  loss  through  discontent. 
And  it  is  not  only  in  dealing  with  labour  that 
personality  is  important,  equally  important 
is  the  handling  of  equal  or  superior  officials 
of  the  business  and  possible  customers 
outside  it. 


72 


CHAPTER  IV 

APPLIED   PSYCHOLOGY 

INDUSTRIAL  Psychology  is  the  youngest 
of  all  the  sciences,  and  like  all  new  sciences 
the  pioneers  have  great  and  manifold  diffi- 
culties to  overcome.  The  devotees  to  the 
laboratory  method  do  not  take  kindly  to 
the  views  and  methods  of  those  who,  in  the 
world  of  men  and  machinery,  have  been 
able  by  experiment  to  prove  the  practical 
utilities  of  this  branch  of  research.  Whilst 
acknowledging  our  indebtedness  to  them 
we  shall  look  in  vain  for  industrial  peace 
to  the  expert  with  the  stop  watch  and  the 
ergograph.  We  should  appreciate  much 
more  their  elaborate  discoveries  if  they 
could  prove  to  us  that  they  really  under- 
73 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

stand  how  smoke  comes  out  of  a  factory 
chimney. 

The  human  machine  is  the  most  wonder- 
ful of  all  instruments,  and  thus  far,  although 
we  know  how  it  works,  we  do  not  know 
why  it  works.  Indeed,  it  is  quite  safe  to 
say  that  thus  far  we  have  no  definition  of 
the  term  "man."  Both  theory  and  de- 
finition alike  have  failed  singularly  here, 
and  all  we  do  know  is  that  man  is  a  body 
and  a  mind,  and  with  these  two  things  he 
has  been  able  to  perform  all  the  wonders  of 
the  industrial  and  business  world  which  we 
see  around  us  today,  after  experimenting 
with  countless  types  and  forms  of  civiliza- 
tion. With  his  mind  these  things  have  been 
planned  and  projected,  and  with  his  body 
they  have  been  executed  with  results  often 
disastrous  to  himself.  It  is  more  than 
obvious  that  both  body  and  mind  are  sub- 
ject to  fatigue,  and  this  perplexing  problem 
is  not  only  the  most  interesting,  but  one 
74 


Applied  Psychology 

likely  to  yield  the  most  useful  results  in 
making  work  worth  while. 

The  chief  bone  of  contention  is :  How  can 
we  eliminate  fatigue  or  at  least  reduce  it 
to  a  minimum?  Speaking  empirically,  we 
must  look  after  the  man  properly.  It  is 
more  than  obvious  that  he  must  have  food, 
but  few  men  indeed  know  how,  when,  or 
what  to  eat.  Again,  the  worker  cannot  be 
efficient  unless  the  air  of  the  shop  or  factory 
is  purified  and  kept  at  an  even  temperature. 
To  this  end  all  workshops  must  be  ventilated 
properly,  but  even  then  few  men  know  how 
to  breathe  properly.  And  beside  these 
the  lighting  conditions  must  be  adequately 
adjusted  to  the  task,  and  finally,  without 
sufficient  sleep  and  rest  no  workman  can 
be  expected  to  arrive  in  the  morning  in  a 
physical  condition  equal  to  the  demands  of 
the  day.  Here  it  may  be  useful  to  observe 
that  effective  or  efficient  sleep  does  not 
depend  on  the  time  factor,  but  rather  on 

75 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

the  quality  or  condition  of  sleep  obtained. 
Sleep  must  be  quiet  and  restful,  without 
any  disturbing  influences  arising  from  with- 
in or  without  the  body,  and  it  is  essential 
that  it  should  be  in  the  proper  bodily  posi- 
tion, which,  in  other  words,  means  that  to 
sleep  properly  the  knees  should  be  drawn 
upwards  and  not  stretched  out  at  length. 
All  these  things  and  a  thousand  others  the 
workman  must  be  taught  either  inside  or 
outside  the  factory,  if  we  are  to  cut  down 
fatigue  and  the  inevitable  collective  indus- 
trial unrest  ensuing. 

The  most  trustworthy  psychologists  in 
their  text-books  indicate  that  the  average 
man  is  only  50  per  cent,  physically  fit  and 
about  25  per  cent,  mentally  efficient.  This 
is  a  startling  fact. 

Man  has  achieved  wonders  with  the 
human  hand,  the  most  perfect  of  all  instru- 
ments. We  may  even  say  that  with  the 
human  hand  he  has  subdued  nature.  If 
76 


Applied  Psychology 

the  great  war  has  taught  us  one  lesson  above 
all  others,  it  has  taught  us  that  thus  far  he 
has  not  subdued  himself. 

It  comes  with  startling  effect  upon  our 
ears  to  be  told  that  the  human  mind  is 
capable  of  doing  only  three  things. 

However  great  the  intellectual  capacity, 
only  these  three  things  can  be  performed 
by  the  individual  mind,  but  it  follows  that 
a  highly  organized  intellect  can  perform 
them  much  more  efficiently  than  a  weaker 
or  undeveloped  one.  Speaking  in  general 
terms,  the  body  provides  the  muscular  and 
physical  energy  and  food  for  the  mind, 
whilst  the  mind  does  the  planning  and  acts 
as  the  administrative  department.  It  is  as 
though  the  body  were  the  engine  house  and 
the  mind  the  dynamo. 

At  this  point  it  may  be  well  to  indicate 
that  the  most  pressing  problem  in  the  in- 
dustrial world  today  is  the  elimination  of 
waste;  and  the  greatest  waste  of  all  is  that 

77 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

caused  by  the  human  factor.  Myriads  of 
men  are  placed  in  positions  and  given  tasks 
entirely  unsuited  to  them  by  nature  and 
experience,  and  consequently  work  is  done 
more  by  guesswork  than  by  knowledge.  It 
should  be  the  aim  of  every  business  man  to 
find  the  right  way  of  doing  things,  get  the 
right  man  to  do  them,  and  see  that  they  are 
done  in  the  right  way.  Then,  and  only 
then,  will  knowledge  be  substituted  for 
guesswork,  which  is  the  daily  religion  of  the 
average  man. 

To  obtain  personal  efficiency  we  must 
get  the  maximum  of  result  without  injury 
to  health.  Health  and  working  efficiency 
go  hand  in  hand.  We  must  eat,  sleep, 
drink,  and  breathe  properly.  This  will  give 
us  bodily  health.  Our  trouble  is  to  know 
how  to  become  efficient  in  mind  and  body, 
and  to  mark  out  the  frontiers  toward  which 
we  may  safely  go.  Recalling  an  ancient 
saying  with  reference  to  the  possibilities  of 
78 


Applied  Psychology 

man,  "It  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall 
be. "  Man  has  achieved  such  prodigies  that 
we  may  claim  some  sympathy  with  the  cult 
of  the  Superman. 

THE  SCIENCE  OF  WORK 

Before  proceeding  to  the  further  chap- 
ters of  this  book  we  purpose  in  this  to  sup- 
port our  main  argument  by  quoting  in 
extenso  from  the  texts  of  various  writers  of 
authority  upon  the  problem  of  the  Human 
Factor.  This  will  substantiate  our  main 
argument  and  indicate  by  a  consensus  of 
opinion  that  the  subject,  though  looked 
upon  as  new,  is  being  investigated  by  many 
minds. 

We  are  now  at  the  beginning  of  a  new 
science,  the  object  of  which  is  to  apply  the 
Scientific  Method  to  all  forms  of  human 
endeavour  and  to  eliminate  for  ever,  we 
trust,  the  ceaseless  interrogation  "Is  life 
79 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

worth  living?"  Let  us  first  of  all  find  out 
the  content  of  the  word  "work,"  and  then 
proceed  to  outline  in  its  main  features  the 
Science  of  Work. 

If  we  can  do  this  we  shall  settle  for  all 
time  one  of  the  greatest  of  industrial  prob- 
lems, viz.:  "What  is  a  fair  day's  pay  for  a 
fair  day's  work?"  In  all  phases  of  human 
endeavour,  heredity  is  a  tremendous  factor 
in  the  expenditure  of  energy.  Impulses 
stream  constantly  into  the  brain  both  day 
and  night,  leading  the  worker  to  move  along 
two  main  lines,  the  line  of  heredity  and  the 
line  of  environment;  and  when  we  analyze 
the  problem  of  volition,  a  point  is  reached 
where  the  individual  has  to  decide  which  of 
these  impulses  should  be  restrained  or 
allowed  to  pass  into  the  zone  of  energy.  It  is 
in  this  zone  of  energy  that  a  man's  work  is 
accomplished,  and  as  he  works,  habits  are 
formed  which  sooner  or  later  create  a  ten- 
dency to  make  the  life  of  the  individual 
80 


Applied  Psychology 

automatic.  Probing  into  the  origin  of  the 
word  "habit, "  we  soon  reach  the  conclusion 
that  a  man  either  has  habits  or  the  habits 
hold  the  man. 

It  is  the  man  who,  being  conscious  of 
the  struggle  between  thought  and  feeling, 
overcomes  feeling  by  the  exercise  of  self- 
control  and  so  masters  his  habits  and  does 
not  waste  either  time  or  energy. 

Work  implies  all  forms  of  activity,  either 
mental  or  physical,  on  the  part  of  man, 
with  a  view  to  providing  sustenance  for  the 
future  apart  from  the  abounding  gifts  of 
nature.  We  must  either  work  or  starve. 
Animals  and  savages  rely  chiefly  on  nature, 
therefore  they  frequently  starve.  The  finest  • 
thing  which  ever  happened  to  man  was  when 
he  was  turned  out  of  the  Garden  of  Eden 
and  made  to  work. 

To  mention  the  well-known  classification 
of  Dr.  Rudolf  Binder,  Work  is  divisible 
into  three  classes,  first  Toil,  then  Labour, 

6  8l 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

and  finally  Work  proper.  By  the  word 
"toil"  we  mean  the  application  of  mere 
physical  energy  to  overcome  an  obstacle, 
and  because  it  usually  implies  that  some- 
one else  has  set  the  task,  therefore  no  one 
likes  it.  On  the  other  hand,  labour  is  the 
application  of  physical  and  mental  energy 
for  the  accomplishment  of  a  task,  both  the 
task  and  the  method  being  set  by  another. 
This  is  also  distasteful  to  the  majority  of 
men.  Work  proper  is  the  application  of 
both  physical  and  mental  energy  for  the 
accomplishment  of  a  self -set  or  enjoyable 
task.  There  is  a  zest  in  real  work  which 
always  brings  happiness. 

Compare,  for  instance,  the  motives  of  a 
man  at  a  machine,  and  an  author  writing 
a  book.  The  latter  expends  six  or  seven 
times  as  much  energy  on  his  work  as  the 
former  does  on  his  labour,  and  yet  as  a  rule 
he  is  much  happier.  The  task  of  the  author 
is  self -set  and  therefore  he  is  much  happier 
82 


Applied  Psychology 

than  the  labourer,  whose  task  is  set  by  some- 
one else;  thus  he  is  seldom  happy.  All  men 
incipiently  believe  in  self -direction,  but 
few  men  exercise  self-control. 

Here  the  words  of  Dr.  Oilman  are 
pertinent: 

"If  a  man  is  rightly  placed  in  the  world's 
work,  doing  what  he  is  best  fitted  for  to 
the  height  of  his  best  powers,  and  if  he 
clearly  sees  that  by  so  doing  he  fills  his  place 
in  the  universal  economy  perfectly,  then, 
granting  of  course  that  he  is  properly 
nourished  physically  and  socially,  he  is 
happy.  But  if  he  is  ill-nourished  he  is  un- 
happy, not  power  enough  flowing  in.  If 
he  is  ill-placed  in  social  service  he  is  un- 
happy, lacking  right  lines  of  discharge,  his 
energy  banking  tip  and  pushing  against 
right  doors  that  don't  open,  and  moving 
very  slack  through  wrong  doors  that  do. 
Moreover,  though  well-nourished  and  well- 
placed,  if  he  is  hag-ridden  by  some  ancient 

83 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

He  about  work  being  a  curse,  a  disgrace, 
or  some  such  idiocy,  then  he  is  unhappy 
because  his  own  mind,  clogged  and  twisted, 
turns  on  cross-currents  of  pressure  that 
spoil  the  smooth  flow  of  energy.  To 
recapitulate: 

"Life  is  action. 

"Action  is  conscious  discharge  of  energy. 

"Discharge  of  energy  is  pleasure  in 
proportion  to  amount,  complexity,  and 
freedom  of  delivery. 

"Social  action  involves  greatest  amount 
and  complexity,  and  so,  with  free  delivery, 
greatest  pleasure.  Our  free  delivery  is 
checked  by  wrong  conditions  and  wrong 
concepts. 

"By  altering  the  concepts  we  can  alter 
conditions  and  so  make  social  action  normal. 

"Work  is  social  action. 

"It  is  the  expression  of  social  energy  for 
social  use. 

"It  is  essentially  collective,  and  we  find 
84 


Applied  Psychology 

work  most  highly  developed  among  most 
collective  creatures,  as  the  ant,  the  bee,  and 
man. 

"It  involves  a  higher  degree  of  intelli- 
gence than  the  preceding  processes.  All 
the  efforts  of  animals  to  take  food  are  excito- 
motory,  and  either  egoistic  or,  at  most, 
familistic.  They  are  hungry,  they  desire 
something,  and  they  go  to  get  it,  performing 
whatever  actions  have  become  necessary 
in  the  pursuit.  But  work  is  the  process  of 
making,  not  of  taking.  It  is  not  excito- 
motory,  but  the  result  of  cerebral  action." 

In  these  forceful  words  the  distinguished 
author  emphasizes  the  place  which  the  mind 
occupies  in  the  field  of  the  world's  work, 
and  few,  if  any,  will  take  exception  to  the 
argument  so  ably  expressed  and  logically 
sustained. 

Here  then,  inevitably,  we  have  to  con- 
sider work  as  Applied  Psychology,  and  it 
would  be  correct  to  indicate  that,  there- 

85 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

fore,  animals  do  not  work.  Work  always 
implies  a  direct  and  definite  end  in  view. 
Work  involves  planning  and  scheming, 
method  and  the  application  of  scientific 
principles.  Here  the  objection  might  be 
raised  that  squirrels,  bees,  ants,  etc.,  engage 
in  work,  but  a  little  examination  into  our 
terminology  will  reveal  the  fact  that  such 
is  not  the  case,  for  with  them  all  there  is 
no  conscious  planning.  They  follow  out 
what  is  a  natural  instinct  to  provide  for 
the  future.  Of  them  it  is  true  to  say  they 
only  live  in  the  present.  Only  human 
beings  have  the  ability  to  look  into  the 
future,  and  this  ability  depends  upon  a 
super-state  of  consciousness  such  as  is  not 
possessed  by  the  lower  creatures.  Both 
savages  and  children  are  lacking  in  this 
respect,  and  only  by  education  and  training 
can  this  deficiency  be  obviated. 

Most  of  the  time  and  energy  of  the  savage 
is  spent  in  hunting  and  in  war  dances,  but 
86 


Applied  Psychology 

he  does  himself  little  good,  as  he  has  not 
the  ability  to  see  into  the  future  and  seldom 
is  able  to  meet  an  emergency.  Therefore 
his  life  is  an  alternation  between  feasting 
and  fasting.  Work  requires  patience  as 
well  as  skill.  The  savage  makes  up  his  mind 
on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  but  inventors 
like  Edison,  Marconi,  and  Tesla  think  for 
very  long  periods,  sometimes  for  years, 
before  they  bring  their  mental  creations  to 
birth. 

Rome  was  not  built  in  a  day  nor  West- 
minster Abbey  in  a  century,  and  with  these 
two  examples  before  us  we  see  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  term  "work."  Someone  will 
say  that  a  genius  makes  up  his  mind  on  the 
spur  of  the  moment,  but  this  is  seldom  right, 
for  genius  is  the  infinite  capacity  for  taking 
pains.  Great  patience  must  be  spent  on 
work.  On  the  one  hand  it  is  quite  true  that 
in  many  phases  of  human  work  "He  who 
hesitates  is  lost,"  and  on  the  other  it  is 
87 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

equally  true  that  "He  who  does  not  hesitate 
is  lost." 

To  refer  to  Dr.  C.  Oilman  again: 

"Work  is  in  two  main  lines,  Production 
and  Distribution;  to  make  something,  or 
to  hand  it  about,  is  human  industry." 

"To  create  is  an  intense  satisfaction;  to 
combine  elements  and  produce  new  results, 
whether  it  be  a  bridge,  a  basket,  or  a  loaf 
of  bread — to  make  is  in  itself  a  joy.  But  so 
is  it  a  joy  to  give  something  to  somebody, 
whether  at  first  hand,  or  in  a  combination 
with  many;  to  spread,  to  disseminate,  to 
feel  the  current  of  human  good  flow  through 
you;  both  functions  are  happy. 

"The  universe  is  an  everlasting  produc- 
tion, force  taking  form,  energy  embodied, 
disembodied,  re-embodied — this  is  the  game 
of  living.  Our  little  mid-station  of  con- 
sciousness feels  the  pressure  of  natural 
forces  on  both  sides,  pushing  in  through  the 
sensory  nerves;  pushing  out  through  the 
88 


Applied  Psychology 

motor  nerves.  Owing  to  our  early  mistake 
about  the  superior  pleasure  of  impression, 
and  our  perverse  insistence  that  expression 
is  only  a  guarded  outlay  of  limited  force, 
by  which  to  secure  desired  impressions,  we 
have  only  understood  the  nature  of  human 
production. 

"The  pleasure  of  right  impression  is  not 
to  be  denied.  Every  sensory  nerve  should 
have  its  proper  stimulus.  And  man,  with 
his  immense  collective  sensorium,  with  his 
highly  developed  personal  sensations,  due 
to  social  evolution,  and  his  power  of  feeling 
with  and  for  other  people,  has  enormous 
capacity  for  the  reception  of  pleasure.  But 
what  is  all  this  pleasurable  stimulus  for? 
The  brain  is  not  merely  a  reservoir  for  stored 
sensation.  A  sensation  is  a  certain  amount 
of  energy  going  into  the  human  battery. 
Once  in,  it  must  be  discharged  in  commen- 
surate activity. 

"Most  interesting  experiments  in  psy- 
89 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

chology  are  being  made  today,  proving  this 
even  in  some  immediate  result  of  a  strong 
mental  impression  in  unconscious  bodily 
motion,  as  shown  in  studies  among  school 
children.  As  the  brain  develops  it  has  in- 
creasing capacity  to  receive  impressions,  to 
retain  and  to  arrange  impressions;  but, 
nevertheless,  sometimes  that  mass  of  im- 
pressions must  come  out  in  commensurate 
action,  else  disease  ensues.  The  human 
brain,  socially  developed  and  socially  stimu- 
lated, has  great  power  of  expression;  that 
expression  is  in  work,  and  work  is  in  Produc- 
tion and  Distribution.  The  productivity  of 
the  human  race,  even  with  its  past  and 
present  checks  and  perversions,  is  the 
wonder  of  the  ages.  Guaranteed  swift  and 
easy  satisfaction  of  those  'wants'  our  econo- 
mists build  so  much  on,  the  steady  increase 
of  impressed  energy  has  resulted  in  as 
steady  an  increase  of  expressed  energy, 
necessarily. 

90 


Applied  Psychology 

"Man  receives  stimulus  from  a  thousand 
sources.  Since  we  made  mental  impressions 
permanent  and  exchangeable  'in  book  form,' 
knowledge  and  emotion  bottled,  .preserved, 
and  distributed  broadcast,  there  is  prac- 
tically no  limit  to  human  stimuli;  and,  since 
with  this  increasing  stimulus  we  have  stead- 
ily reduced  the  difficulties  of  execution,  our 
real  problem  is,  how  to  provide  right  outlets 
for  the  productive  energy  of  humanity. 
This  normal  increase  of  power  and  execution 
we  have  managed  to  check,  however,  quite 
materially.  We  have  gravely  interfered 
with  the  natural  distribution  of  stimulus 
up  to  the  present  time;  but  now  our  rapid 
multiplication  of  free  school  and  free  library, 
with  similar  tendencies  in  other  educational 
and  recreative  lines,  is  producing  its  natural 
result  in  increased  'energy." 

Psychologically  speaking,  work  has  made 
us  human  beings;  without  work  we  should 
be  animals.  It  now  remains  for  us  to 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

humanize  work;  work  has  enabled  us  not 
only  to  secure  our  present  needs  and  com- 
mon luxuries,  but  also  to  provide  amply 
for  the  future.  Further,  it  has  taught  us  to 
be  much  more  sociable.  Work  has  educated 
us  in  a  thousand  ways;  the  very  universe 
in  which  we  live  is  a  ceaseless  hive  of  in- 
dustry. 

It  is  an  entirely  erroneous  idea  that  the 
savage  is  a  stronger  and  healthier  being 
than  the  civilized  man  who  works  in  the 
office,  workshop,  and  factory.  Length  of 
life  depends  upon  vitality,  and  we  have 
abundant  proof  that  our  vitality  now  is 
greater  than  when  we  were  savages.  The 
savage  allows  a  great  deal  of  energy  to  run 
to  waste  at  irregular  intervals,  but  he  has 
then  to  take  long  rests  because  he  has  not 
sufficient  energy  to  carry  on  continuously. 
He  toils  for  a  period  and  then  rests ;  he  can- 
not work,  for  work  is  psychological  and 
must  be  methodical.  Work  liberates  man 
92 


Applied  Psychology 

from  nature  and  therefore  the  savage  has 
to  be  content  with  what  nature  provides, 
and  very  often  he  suffers  badly  in  conse- 
quence. 

Work  imparts  a  quiet  dignity  to  a  man 
which  is  not  seen  in  the  man  who  wastes 
all  his  time.  Work  is  not  degrading  and  an 
intelligent  and  diligent  man  can  be  dis- 
tinguished by  that  impressive  dignity. 
London  and  all  the  great  towns  owe  their 
greatness  to  the  mediaeval  craftsmen  who 
worked  and  learned  their  crafts  thoroughly. 
They  were  always  respected  even  in  those 
days  of  feasting  and  merriment  simply 
because  of  their  dignified  ways  and  because 
it  was  realized  how  essential  they  were  to 
the  country.  Method  is  absolutely  essen- 
tial to  business;  work  must  be  systematic. 
Slaves  working  together  realized  that  they 
must  all  pull  together  if  only  for  their  own 
benefit.  So  now  do  we  realize  that  co-opera- 
tion among  competitors  is  one  of  the  finest 
93 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

things  in  the  business  world.  Systematic 
work  is  necessary  for  us  to  be  able  to  enjoy 
leisure.  In  the  past,  work  was  looked 
upon  as  an  evil  to  be  endured;  idleness  was 
the  great  aim.  But  now  we  know  that  work 
is  essential.  In  short,  the  Philosophy  of 
Work  is  that  he  gets  most  from  life  who  in- 
vests most  of  himself  in  it. 

One  of  the  initial  problems  we  have  to 
deal  with  is  the  Selection,  Adaptation,  and 
Training  of  employees.  So  far  as  machin- 
ery is  concerned  in  this  country  we  have  in 
all  probability  the  most  efficient  in  the 
world,  and  in  our  Empire  we  have  abundant 
raw  materials  also.  But  if  the  secret  of 
reconstruction  is  increased  production,  it  is 
more  than  obvious,  in  the  light  of  what 
other  countries  are  doing,  that  we  must 
increase  our  Human  Efficiency,  and  to  do 
this  we  must  bring  the  school  to  the  factory 
and  so  bridge  the  gulf  between  learning 
and  earning. 

94 


Applied  Psychology 

Because  of  the  importance  and  dignity 
of  business  in  our  social  economy,  we  must 
above  all  things  carefully  select  and  then 
most  carefully  train  our  employees. 

With  reference  to  adaptation  and  train- 
ing, we  now  have  certain  principles  for  our 
guidance  which  are  more  or  less  accepted 
as  axioms  of  character  analysis  by  experts 
in  charge  of  the  employment  department. 


95 


CHAPTER  V 

SELECTING   EMPLOYEES 

WHATEVER  a  man   thinks   and  feels, 

that  he  is. 
Whatever  a  man  continues  to  be,  that 

he  writes  upon  himself. 
Whatever  a  man  writes  upon  himself 

can  be  read  by  one  who  understands. 
That  which  is  written  on  a  man's  face 

shows  what  kind  of  life  he  leads. 

These  statements  are  axiomatic. 

On  these  principles,  the  selection  of  em- 
ployees depends — that  is,  if  we  aim  at 
establishing  scientific  regimentation  in  in- 
dustrial life.  Nature  has  taken  millions  of 
years  to  build  the  brain  of  man,  therefore 
96 


Selecting  Employees 

we  can  afford  to  devote  a  reasonable  amount 
of  attention  to  the  problem  of  organizing 
and  co-ordinating  mental  processes. 

Nature  began  by  building  a  small  portion 
of  brain  matter  at  the  back  of  the  skull, 
and  then,  with  her  evolutionary  programme, 
she  added  layer  upon  layer,  and  finally 
evolved  the  faculties  of  reasoning  and 
judgment.  And  so  far  as  we  know,  without 
examining  the  problem  of  the  genius,  nature 
has  finished  with  the  objective  mind  and 
endowed  man  with  the  propensities  of  self- 
consciousness  and  memory. 

We  know  now  that  the  higher  types  of 
men  are  those  with  the  greatest  develop- 
ment in  the  frontal  lobe.  If  we  look  for  a 
moment  at  the  heads  of  such  men  as  Darwin 
and  Spencer,  we  note  at  once  the  immense 
development  of  the  frontal  region  of  the 
skull.  Their  foreheads  were  massive  and 
show  what  great  thinkers  they  were.  The 
advancing  forehead  belongs  to  the  thinker, 
7  97 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

the  sloping  forehead  belongs  to  the  doer, 
the  man  of  action. 

Instinctively  we  know  that  features  indi- 
cate character  more  or  less.  Largeness, 
smallness,  coarseness,  and  fineness  of  featurfe 
all  indicate  very  largely  the  kind  of  brain 
possessed  by  the  candidate  for  employment, 
and  in  this  connection  it  is  permissible  to 
state  that  here  we  are  only  observing  and 
translating  nature's  own  handwriting. 

There  are  three  influences  affecting  a 
man's  character,  Heredity,  Environment, 
and  Habit.  To  understand  himself  and  to 
solve  the  problem  of  self-determination  it 
is  necessary  for  every  man  to  probe  into 
his  pedigree  and  then  realize  that  he  is  an 
expression  in  time  and  space  of  the  myriad 
lives  preceding  him. 

Environment  determines  to  a  great  ex- 
tent the  bias  of  the  life  of  the  individual, 
and  in  the  direction  of  habit  lies  man's 
hope  or  despair. 

98 


Selecting  Employees 

All  hope  of  efficiency  must  come  from 
the  daily  life  of  the  individual.  Habits  de- 
termine character,  and  character  is  oft 
remote  from  reputation.  We  are  reminded 
here  of  the  saying  of  Homer  that  "a  man's 
character  is  his  demon";  in  other  words, 
it  is  that  which  he  has  inherited,  and  it  has 
been  well  stated  that  "a  man's  character  is 
what  he  is  by  himself  in  the  dark,  but  his 
reputation  is  what  he  is  in  the  light. "  The 
character  of  a  man  and  his  habits  can  be 
determined  largely  by  the  formation  of  the 
face,  and  it  has  been  proved  by  experimen- 
tal psychology  that  by  altering  the  mode 
of  life  and  developing  the  latent  faculties  a 
man  can  completely  change  his  features. 

If  we  refer  to  the  writings  of  Dr.  Black- 
ford  and  those  who  follow  the  school  of 
character  analysis  by  observational  diag- 
nosis, we  may  accept  the  theory  that  all 
types  of  human  beings  are  reducible  to  five 
groups.  We  have,  for  instance,  the  motive 
99 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

or  square  type  of  face.  Persons  belonging 
to  this  type  are  the  most  trustworthy  and 
independent  in  the  world.  Lord  Kitchener 
was  a  man  of  this  type.  They  are  deter- 
mined, dignified,  and  scorn  to  lean  on  any 
one  else.  There  is  also  the  vital  or  round 
faced  type;  such  persons  are  full  of  vitality 
and  are  often  bubbling  over  with  energy. 
These  are  the  pleasure-loving,  jovial,  and 
substantial  people.  Then,  again,  we  have 
the  purely  mental  type — those  who  have 
the  kite-shaped  face.  These  are  the  idealists, 
the  highbrows,  the  people  who  are  minus 
sentiment.  They  possess  great  thinking 
powers,  are  very  deliberate,  exact,  and 
precise  in  all  their  actions.  As  a  rule  they 
are  most  uncompromising  and  are  alert, 
keen,  and  practical.  We  find  them  amongst 
the  higher  professions.  Then,  again,  we 
have  the  acid  or  greyhound  type  of  face; 
these  persons  are  uncompromising  and  delib- 
erate, and  are  invariably  keen,  practical, 
100 


Selecting  Employees 

and  penetrating.  Finally,  we  have  the 
alkali  or  concave  type  of  face;  where  the 
features  retreat,  we  find  the  retreating 
mind.  Where  the  root  of  the  nose  is  sunk 
deeply  between  the  eyes,  we  find  the  gen- 
eral disposition  to  be  over-cautious,  hesi- 
tating, and  procrastinating.  They  have  a 
tendency  to  put  things  off  until  it  is  too  late. 
Generally  speaking,  they  are  mild,  reflective, 
and  patient,  and  strictly  speaking,  they  do 
not  make  good  business  men. 

Temperament  also  can  be  determined  by 
outside  appearances.  Light-haired  people 
are  generally  versatile,  brilliant,  and  fas- 
cinating, and  often  difficult  to  manage. 
On  the  other  hand,  dark-haired  people, 
because  they  are  in  a  lower  state  of  vibra- 
tion, are  steadier,  more  dependable,  good 
organizers,  and  make  excellent  managers. 

Speaking  empirically,  it  is  much  easier 
to  manage  a  dark-haired  person  than  a 
light-haired  one,  so  that  the  wise  executive 
101 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

or  works  manager  will  see  to  it  that  as  far 
as  possible  his  types  and  temperaments  are 
balanced  up  in  the  workshop,  office,  or 
factory.  We  must  mix  our  human  chemi- 
cals right  to  avoid  explosions. 

In  sizing  up  applicants  for  a  post,  great 
care  should  be  taken  to  note  all  these  things, 
although  here  it  may  be  wise  to  observe 
that  "a  little  knowledge  is  a  dangerous 
thing."  Most  of  our  business  troubles  arise 
through  the  vital  and  alkali  types,  because 
these  people  in  the  long  run  think  more  of 
their  bodily  comforts  than  of  their  business. 
If  we  require  a  thinker  we  must  choose  a 
combination  of  the  motive,  mental,  and  acid 
types.  Such  a  person  would  make  a  good 
costing  clerk  or  an  accountant.  A  good 
salesman  is  the  man  who  has  a  slightly 
receding  forehead  and  a  firm,  square  jaw. 
They  show  tenacity  of  purpose  and  quick 
thinking,  factors  which  are  absolutely  essen- 
tial to  the  vocation  of  a  salesman.  A  man 
1 02 


Selecting  Employees 

with  large  development  on  the  top  and  at 
the  back  of  the  head,  as  a  rule,  is  a  man  of 
great  moral  purpose  and  character.  Such  a 
type  makes  a  good  husband,  but,  strictly 
speaking,  is  not  always  a  good  man  at  busi- 
ness because  he  is  for  ever  striving  to  serve 
two  masters. 

In  selecting  the  employee,  great  care 
must  be  also  taken  to  notice  the  ears,  the 
lip,  and  the  chin.  When  the  ear  is  in  the 
centre  of  the  head,  this  sign  usually  denotes 
the  man  of  balanced  mind.  When  the  ear 
slopes  near  the  neck  we  have  the  sign  of 
the  man  of  aggression — the  fighting  or 
animal  man.  The  upper  lip  of  the  business 
man  should  be  long  and  straight,  for  this 
indicates  great  power  of  concentration, 
cautiousness,  and  self-control,  factors  essen- 
tial in  the  life  of  the  successful  man.  The 
lower  lip  also  gives  us  a  great  insight  into 
character.  If  the  lip  slightly  advances  it 
shows  that  the  person  is  of  a  friendly  dis- 
103 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

position,  but  where  it  recedes  it  shows  just 
the  opposite.  A  square  chin  indicates 
tenacity  of  purpose,  but  a  man  with  a 
double  chin  should  not  be  in  an  office;  he 
should  be  outside  the  factory,  working  off 
his  spare  energy. 

Here  the  reader  will  say,  "What  is  the 
use  of  all  these  ideas  to  an  employer  of 
labour?"  The  answer  to  that  question  is 
found  in  the  fact  that  nature  writes  upon 
the  features  of  a  man  his  character,  and 
without  being  a  psychologist  it  is  possible 
to  interpret  these  signs  by  close  observation 
and  study. 

It  is  better  by  far  to  employ  the  man 
with  the  power  to  take  in  the  work  for 
which  he  is  wanted  and  to  train  him  than 
to  engage  a  man  totally  unsuited  for  the 
work  because  he  has  been  half -trained  for 
it.  He  will  never  make  any  further  pro- 
gress. It  is  necessary,  then,  for  employers, 
if  they  are  successfully  to  compete  in  the 
104 


Selecting  Employees 

coming  economic  combat  throughout  the 
world,  to  get  the  right  man  to  do  the  right 
thing,  at  the  right  time,  in  the  right  manner, 
in  the  right  place,  rather  than  to  work  by 
rule-of -thumb  methods,  and  this  can  only 
be  done  by  engaging  an  expert  for  so  great 
a  responsibility,  or  to  train  himself  to  select 
his  employees  and  then  adapt  and  train 
them  for  their  work. 

The  continuous  hiring  and  discharging 
of  operatives,  because  of  their  unsuitability 
for  their  work,  costs  modern  industry  tens 
of  thousands  of  pounds  per  annum.  In 
large  works  it  is  as  essential  to  have  a 
properly  equipped  employment  department 
as  it  is  necessary  to  have  a  costing  depart- 
ment. 

It  is  our  intention  in  the  subsequent 
volume  to  which  this  is  an  introduction  to 
deal  much  more  exhaustively  with  the 
subject  of  vocational  adaptation  and  train- 
ing, believing  as  we  do  that  when  we  have 
105 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

solved  this  problem  all  those  which  natur- 
ally follow  in  the  economy  of  business  life 
will  more  or  less  solve  themselves.  The 
dynamic  and  the  static  divisions  of  our 
modern  industrial  life  must  be  thoroughly 
analyzed  and  co-ordinated  before  we  can 
hope  for  emancipation  from  the  thousand 
ills  which  invade  our  social  economy  on 
every  side.  And  here  we  may  usefully 
refer  the  reader  to  the  excellent  manual  of 
Professor  E.  D.  Jones  upon  Business  Ad- 
ministration, from  which  the  following  ob- 
servations are  taken. 

"A  nearer  approach  to  the  scientific  con- 
trol of  industrial  operations  has  probably 
never  been  made  in  the  world's  history 
than  in  those  establishments  now  employ- 
ing 'Scientific  Management.'  There  are 
men  who  have  shown  the  world  how  to  save 
time  and  toil,  how  to  meet  the  unexpected 
with  infinite  resourcefulness,  and  how  to 
preserve  an  unsullied  personal  honesty 
1 06 


Selecting  Employees 

under  the  cloak  of  corporate  organization. 
There  are  leaders  who,  without  systematic 
training  in  youth,  have  yet  built  up  a  new 
science  of  affairs,  the  principles  of  which 
can  be  taught  to  the  coming  generations." 

Few  things  will  help  forward  the  science 
of  Industrial  Administration  more  than 
to  drop  the  old  question,  "How  much  is  he 
worth?"  A  true  aristocracy  will  never  be 
formed  in  Industry  until  all  good  men  unite 
to  draw  the  lines  sharply,  and  resolve  to 
give  honour  only  to  those  who  have  shown 
the  capacity  to  observe  accurately,  to  think 
straight,  to  preserve  their  ideals,  and  to 
develop  productive  rather  than  predatory 
industries. 

In  the  long  run,  methods  are  infinitely 
more  important  to  industry  than  the  results 
which  at  any  given  moment  embody  their 
effects.  The  prevalence  of  honourable  and 
efficient  methods  is  the  only  thing  which 
can  keep  open  the  road  to  future  achieve- 
107 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

ments.  The  first  care,  therefore,  of  the 
business  community  should  be  sound  meth- 
ods. We  hear  much  of  governmental  and 
other  reforms  which  are  feared  because  they 
will  disturb  business.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
there  is  hardly  any  probable  destruction  of 
property  which  will  not,  in  the  long  run,  prove 
immensely  profitable,  if  it  is  the  price  which 
must  be  paid  for  a  superior  method.  To  say 
this  is  merely  to  apply  the  well-established 
principle  of  scrapping  obsolete  equipment  to 
the  problem  of  getting  rid  of  superseded 
and  worn-out  methods  and  policies. 

The  paramount  value  of  methods  was 
emphasized  by  Mr.  Carnegie  when  he  said, 
"Take  away  all  our  factories,  our  trade, 
our  avenues  of  transportation,  our  money; 
leave  me  our  organization,  and  in  four  years 
I  shall  have  re-established  myself. "  Results 
change  from  day  to  day;  scientific  methods 
are  a  heritage  of  intangible  capital  of  more 
permanent  value.  Results  represent  past 
1 08 


Selecting  Employees 

conditions;  methods  prepare  for  what  is  to 
come.  To  possess  efficient  methods  is  to 
have  the  power  to  recover  lost  results,  or 
to  replace  obsolete  results  at  will;  but  to 
possess  results  with  inadequate  methods  is 
to  begin  at  once  to  fall  behind.  Results 
may  be  acquired  by  accident;  methods  are 
transmitted  only  by  the  slow  growth  of 
habits.  Results  may  be  easily  transferred; 
to  the  attainment  of  superior  methods  there 
is  happily  no  royal  road. 

Science  must  combine  with  Industry, 
and  the  Scientific  Method  must  be  applied 
to  all  phases  of  our  economic  system. 
Professor  Goldmark  in  the  well-known 
book  upon  Fatigue  and  Efficiency  has  sub- 
mitted the  most  complete  analysis  upon 
our  main  problem  to  the  present-day  in- 
vestigator, and  those  who  wish  to  proceed 
further  into  the  problem  may  wisely  direct 
their  attention  to  the  writings  of  this  dis- 
tinguished scientist. 

109 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

Co-operation  between  labour  and  capital 
is  the  one  thing  we  most  ardently  desire, 
and  if  there  is  to  be  a  cessation  of  the  futile 
warfare  between  the  two  forces  which  we 
may  conveniently  term  Money  and  Men, 
we  must  evolve  a  higher  ideal  as  to  the 
nature  of  our  common  social  structure  and 
pay  greater  attention  to  the  Spencerian 
doctrine  of  human  solidarity;  and  we  en- 
dorse the  wise  utterings  of  the  American 
author  who  stated,  with  reference  to  the  co- 
operation of  the  men  of  science  with  the 
industrialists  in  making  our  modern  civiliza- 
tion effective  and  permanent: 

"Industry  and  science  agree  in  making 
large  use  of  that  simple  form  of  co-operation, 
commonly  known  as  the  division  of  labour, 
by  which  persons  of  unlike  genius  are  united 
in  the  same  enterprise,  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  different  functions. 

"The  dawn  of  modern  science  in  Europe 
presented,  in  the  life-history  of  two  noted 
no 


Selecting  Employees 

men,  a  striking  instance  of  the  benefits  of 
individual  co-operation.  Tycho  Brahe,  the 
leading  astronomer  of  the  latter  half  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  was  a  nobleman  of  proud 
spirit  and,  by  reason  of  a  certain  dramatic 
talent  which  attracted  attention,  able  to 
secure  from  his  royal  patrons  large  grants 
for  astronomical  apparatus.  He  was  an 
expert  instrument  maker  and  an  accurate 
observer.  His  life  was  spent  largely  in 
compiling  tables  of  observations  of  planet- 
ary movements.  Kepler,  who  came  under 
his  patronage,  and  who  worked  with  him 
for  many  years,  was  a  poor  observer,  suffer- 
ing from  defective  eyesight.  He  was  awk- 
ward in  his  movements,  and  possessed  little 
mechanical  ability.  He  was,  however,  a 
good  mathematician,  and  he  possessed  the 
rare  ability  to  become  enthusiastic  over 
statistical  calculations.  The  five  laws  of 
planetary  motion  which  Kepler  discovered, 
and  the  Rudolphine  tables  which  he  com- 
iii 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

pleted,  are  monuments  to  a  splendid  and 
devoted  co-operation  between  two  geniuses 
of  entirely  different  endowments. 

"Applied  science  has  a  similar  example 
of  fruitful  co-operation  in  the  case  of  James 
Watt  and  Matthew  Boulton.  Watt  has 
described  himself  in  the  following  words: 
'I  am  not  enterprising.  I  would  rather 
face  a  loaded  cannon  than  settle  an  account 
or  make  a  bargain;  in  short,  I  find  myself 
out  of  my  sphere  when  I  have  anything  to 
do  with  mankind.'  Boulton  was  a  man  of 
affairs,  full  of  energy  and  common  sense, 
and  possessed  of  property.  He  is  remem- 
bered because  he  was  able  to  perceive  and 
respect  the  talent  of  a  man  entirely  different 
from  himself,  and  because  he  tenderly  en- 
couraged and  courageously  defended  that 
genius  through  manifold  attacks  and  dis- 
appointments, to  the  lasting  benefit  of  the 
world. 

"There  are  abundant  illustrations  of  the 

112 


Selecting  Employees 

fruitful  co-operation  of  men  of  different 
talents  in  business.  There  are  even  enough 
men  of  wealth  ready  to  enter  into  an  arm's 
length  alliance  with  science  and  education 
by  means  of  a  cold  bequest.  But  there  is  a 
waiting  opportunity  for  men  of  affairs  to 
go  into  living,  daily  partnership  with  the 
arts  and  sciences,  by  entering  into  close 
personal  relationships  with  men  who  need 
the  help  of  a  natural  administrator  to  make 
their  contribution  to  progress.  A  good 
many  captains  of  industry  might  weave 
their  names  firmly  into  the  fabric  of  history, 
as  did  Boulton,  by  aiding  some  delicate 
flower  of  genius  with  energetic  counsel  and 
a  wise  corrective  influence." 

The  main  problem  of  efficiency  of  pro- 
duction being  that  of  increasing  the  human 
capacity  for  output  on  the  part  of  the  in- 
dividual, we  shall  find  it  now  more  than 
ever  necessary  in  our  industrial  conferences 
to  pay  greater  regard  to  the  general  prob- 

8  113 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

lem  of  human  efficiency.  Because  without 
men  we  could  not  possibly  utilize  our  ma- 
chinery, therefore  the  man  problem  is  the 
most  urgent  of  all. 

Life  at  its  best  is  a  most  difficult  equa- 
tion to  solve,  and  if  a  man  should  live  to 
be  sixty  years  of  age  before  he  qualifies  for 
a  pension,  we  should  take  into  our  reckoning 
the  fact  that  the  average  man  spends  at 
least  twenty  years  in  bed,  and  if  he  is  to 
avoid  being  everlastingly  in  harness,  he  has 
at  his  disposal  thirty  years  at  the  most, 
during  which  he  will  be  called  upon  to  work 
out  his  own  economic  salvation,  make  his 
contribution  to  the  life  of  the  State,  and 
add  his  quota  to  the  collective  welfare  of 
humanity.  And  unless  these  principles  and 
ideals  actuate  his  life  and  animate  his  en- 
deavour, we  can  scarcely  say  that  the  life 
of  the  individual  is  worth  while.  We  there- 
fore conclude  this  chapter  with  the  most 
excellent  words  of  Professor  Holmes  Merton : 
114 


Selecting  Employees 

"Today,  in  industries,  trades,  arts,  and 
professions  none  but  efficient  men  and 
women  are  vocationally  secure.  The  un- 
skilled, the  inept,  the  fair-to-middling,  the 
faithful  but  inefficient  are  being  hard  pressed 
and  gradually  vanquished,  nor  is  the  process 
of  industrial  elimination  confined  to  the 
incapable  and  the  untrained;  a  sure  and 
unkind  fate  awaits  the  capable  men  who 
are  well-trained  for  vocations  which  do  not 
fit  them  and  who,  because  of  this,  fail  to 
measure  up  to  the  required  efficiency  stand- 
ard— sooner  or  later,  they  will  be  discharged 
from  the  ranks;  and  the  untried  young 
person,  no  matter  how  ambitious  and  willing 
or  how  generally  capable  he  or  she  is,  finds 
great  difficulty  in  securing  employment,  and 
still  greater  in  keeping  it,  in  any  but  the 
more  ordinary  occupations — occupations 
that  offer  no  future  enhancement — unless  he 
or  she  has  had  some  particular  vocational 
advantages. 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

"Efficiency  is  resolvable  into  two  prime 
factors,  one  of  which  is  trained  skilfulness. 
Much  emphasis  is  today  being  placed  on 
this  essential  element  of  success. 

"Employers  know  its  value;  they  dis- 
count, sometimes  too  heavily,  all  applicants 
who  have  not  received  special  preparation 
for  the  work  required.  Employees  are 
sensing  its  need;  and  greater  numbers  of 
young  men  and  young  women  are  making 
efforts,  some  eagerly,  some  grudgingly, 
better  to  qualify  themselves  for  the  posi- 
tions they  seek  to  fill. 

"Educators  have  heard  the  call  of  the 
business  and  professional  world;  they  are 
striving  to  find  ways  and  means  by  which 
the  demand  for  men  and  women  better 
equipped  for  the  practical  affairs  of  life  can 
be  met. 

"Everywhere  there  is  talk  of  vocational 
training,  everywhere  there  is  urgency  for 
industrial  education.  Specialized  schools 
116 


Selecting  Employees 

generally  and  the  school  systems  of  many 
cities  are  modifying  their  curricula  and 
revolutionizing  their  methods  in  order  to 
turn  out  trained  human  doers. 

"Commissions  and  foundations  are  em- 
ploying large  numbers  of  investigators  of 
the  labour  and  trades  situations,  with  the 
ultimate  object  of  helping  men  and  women 
to  greater  efficiency  in  their  various  voca- 
tions. Volumes  of  statistics  have  been 
compiled,  classes  have  been  conducted, 
lectures  delivered,  and  many  books  written 
concerning  vocational  training.  All  of 
which  is  effort  in  the  right  direction  and  is 
productive  of  partial  desired  results. 

"But  in  order  to  produce  the  highest 
efficiency  product,  this  one  prime  factor, 
trained  skilfulness,  must  be  multiplied  by 
the  other  industrial  prime  factor,  right 
choice  of  vocation. 

"Right  choice  of  vocation  is  the  natural 
basis  of  efficiency. 

117 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

"Let  a  person  of  intelligence  get  into 
the  right  vocation,  even  without  specialized 
training  in  that  vocation,  and  give  him  a 
chance  to  become  familiar  with  its  require- 
ments, time  to  overcome  the  handicap  of 
unpreparedness,  the  chances  are  two  to 
one  in  his  favour  that  he  will  make  good. 

"Were  this  not  true,  how  account  for 
the  thousands  of  thoroughly  efficient  men 
and  women  in  all  the  avenues  of  human 
endeavour  in  the  past  years  before  specific 
vocational  training  had  been  thought  of 
except  in  certain  apprenticeship  callings? 

"On  the  other  hand,  excellent  oppor- 
tunities for  acquiring  proficiency  in  any 
calling  for  which  one  has  no  natural  apti- 
tude or  mental  capacity  will  never  enable 
one  to  rise  above  mediocrity  in  that  calling. 

"Oftentimes  the  best  training  for  a  mis- 
fit calling  does  not  enable  a  man  even  to 
earn  his  salt  in  that  calling,  whereas  the 
same  man  might  rise  to  eminence  in  the 
118 


Selecting  Employees 

vocaJtion  which  called  his  dominant  abilities 
into  play. 

"There  are  two  fundamental  facts  in 
relation  to  efficiency  that  have  not  received 
due  attention,  either  in  the  present-day 
agitation  for  vocational  training  or  in  the 
extended,  practical  efforts  that  are  being 
made  to  give  young  men  and  women  in- 
creasingly better  preparation  for  profes- 
sional and  industrial  life. 

"The  first  of  these  facts  is  that  every 
vocation  requires  that  the  man  who  would 
successfully  follow  it  with  ease  and  enjoy- 
ment must  have  the  special  mental  equip- 
ment— some  particular  faculty  or  ability 
or  combination  of  natural  talents — that 
especially  fits  him  to  carry  on  that  occupa- 
tion; the  second  of  these  facts  is  that  pro- 
found natural  fact  that  every  person  is 
better  adapted  to  carry  on  some  one  voca- 
tion than  he  is  to  carry  on  any  other. 

"Before  anything  like  the  highest  effi- 
119 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

ciency  of  men  and  women  can  be  developed, 
vocational  training  must  be  supplemented 
by,  or,  better,  preceded  by,  vocational 
guidance.  Men  and  women,  boys  and  girls, 
need  first  of  all  to  be  helped  to  make  the 
right  choice  of  vocation.  Such  fortunate 
choice  of  one's  work  means  more  than  effi- 
ciency, more  than  financial  success ;  it  means 
an  unfailing  source  of  happiness.  People 
who  do  not  find  their  highest  self-expression 
in  their  work  never  know  one  of  the  most 
wholesome  and  enduring  joys  of  human  life. 

"The  new  demands  of  today  and  of  the 
coming  tomorrows  require  that  a  person's 
best  abilities  and  natural  gifts  shall  be  called 
into  activity  in  his  life's  vocation,  require 
that  everyone  shall  do  the  work  he  or  she  is 
naturally  fitted  to  do. 

"How  to  find  that  work  is  the  first 
great  problem. 

"The  old  haphazard  way  of  drifting  into 
any  position  at  hand  will  no  longer  serve. 
120 


Selecting  Employees 

Too  many  misfit,  incompetent  workmen, 
salesmen,  professional  and  business  men 
have  resulted  from  such  a  careless  chance 
way  of  making  the  most  important  decision 
in  life. 

"In  order  to  find  the  business,  profes- 
sion, trade,  or  art  where  because  of  one's 
peculiar  natural  fitness  for  such  vocation 
success  may  more  readily  be  achieved  than 
elsewhere,  one  must  have,  first,  a  know- 
ledge of  one's  own  capabilities,  developed 
or  latent;  and,  second,  a  knowledge  of  the 
particular  mental  requirements  of  different 
vocations." 


121 


CHAPTER  VI 

SCIENTIFIC   MANAGEMENT  AND  THE  WEL- 
FARE OF   THE  WORKER 

THE  form  of  executive  control  known  as 
Scientific  Management  is  the  reduction  of 
known  data  in  connection  with  a  given 
manufacture  to  a  formula,  classifying,  tabu- 
lating, and  reducing  each  process  until  the 
whole  becomes  an  automatic  action  for  the 
attainment  of  the  maximum  output.  This  is 
the  industrial  Gospel  of  Emerson  and  Taylor. 

The  worker  is  taken  and  trained  to  the 
utmost.  The  particular  process  or  part  of 
a  process  for  which  he  shows  a  particular 
aptitude  is  singled  out,  and  reduced  to  a 
1 '  task. ' '  The  ' '  task ' '  becomes  that  worker's 
life-work :  the  only  change  given  to  the  worker 
122 


Scientific  Management 

is  that  demanded  by  fatigue  and  strain, 
which,  as  has  been  proved,  reduce  output. 

Those  responsible  for  the  system  claim 
that  they  are  able  to  give  higher  wages  for 
a  reduced  number  of  working  hours,  the 
incapable  worker  is  eliminated,  and  better 
work  is  produced.  It  undoubtedly  adds 
great  responsibility  to  the  management; 
the  work  has  to  be  constantly  overlooked, 
internal  organization  must  be  perfected, 
detail  must  be  constantly  adjusted.  Its 
principal  objection  is  that  it  does  not  recog- 
nize the  worker  as  a  social  asset;  it  often 
fails  to  make  him  a  better  citizen.  However, 
as  a  system  of  industrial  regimentation  it 
has  come  to  stay. 

What  is  now  known  as  Welfare  Work,  on 
the  other  hand,  seeks  to  secure  the  best 
results  in  all  forms  of  commercial  activity 
by  the  scientific  study  of  the  human  ele- 
ment associated  with  the  work  of  produc- 
tion. It  seeks  to  study  the  psychology  of 
123 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

each  individual  worker,  and  to  fit  each 
person  to  his  work,  first  selecting  and  then 
educating  or  training  the  worker. 

It  seeks  to  train  him  so  that  waste  of 
time  or  material  is  not  only  morally  wrong, 
but  a  source  of  loss  equally  to  the  employee 
and  employer.  It  claims  that  the  considera- 
tion of  either  side  permits  higher  wages, 
and  produces  more  profit.  It  reacts  on  the 
community  as  a  whole ;  it  makes  the  worker 
a  better  citizen  and,  universally  practised, 
it  will  largely  solve  the  problem  of  capital 
and  labour. 

It  asserts  that  the  "man  problem"  is 
the  centre  of  the  labour  problem,  and  that 
this  is  the  element  that  needs  thought  and 
sympathetic  consideration. 

WELFARE  WORK  AS  AN  INVESTMENT 

To   make   a   direct    charge   upon   each 
employee  towards  the  cost  of  the  Welfare 
124 


Scientific  Management 

Department  would  be  a  decided  error  in 
judgment  and  defeat  the  end  for  which 
Welfare  Work  is  established.  The  primary 
effect  of  such  a  charge  would  be  to  create 
a  feeling  of  antagonism,  which  would  mili- 
tate against  the  work  carried  on,  and  prove 
harmful  to  the  feeling  of  confidence  be- 
tween employer  and  employed,  which  it  is 
the  duty  of  Welfare  Work  to  engender. 
Money  must  not  play  any  direct  part  in 
the  relations  between  the  Welfare  Depart- 
ment on  the  one  side  and  Capital  and 
Labour  on  the  other,  and  if  an  employee 
ever  does  think  of  the  cost,  it  must  be  in  the 
light  of  a  gift  by  the  Firm. 

All  firms  should  view  the  cost  of  Welfare 
Work  as  an  investment,  the  dividend  from 
which  is  secured  by  an  unstinted  output, 
lowered  costing,  effected  partly  by  eco- 
nomical use  of  material,  and  largely  by 
reduced  waste,  and  assisted  and  fostered 
by  a  feeling  of  good-will  among  all  concerned. 
125 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

The  vision  in  the  mind  of  the  Welfare 
Superintendent  is  a  busy  hive  of  industry 
peopled  by  workers,  each  doing  his  bit  to 
attain  a  greater  perfection;  the  employer 
doing  all  in  his  power  to  support  the  Welfare 
Superintendent  in  his  efforts.  He  recog- 
nizes the  value  of  the  work  being  done,  he 
has  secured  the  good-will  of  his  people,  his 
business  has  expanded,  the  practical  has 
made  its  appeal  to  him.  It  has  cost  him 
nothing  and  he  has  achieved  everything. 

DOES  SCIENTIFIC  MANAGEMENT  LOWER 
WAGES? 

It  is  the  claim  of  those  who  conduct  their 
establishment  under  Scientific  Management 
that  they  are  enabled  by  the  increased 
production  to  pay  a  larger  sum  in  wages 
than  is  otherwise  possible  under  the  recog- 
nized factory  system.  The  statement  is 
not  strictly  accurate,  inasmuch  as  a  higher 
126 


Scientific  Management 

wage  is  not  always  paid,  but  the  earning 
capacity  of  the  individual  is  enhanced 
by  a  differential  bonus  scheme,  which 
is  governed  by  output  and  individual 
capacity,  and  not  by  the  raising  of  the 
regular  wage.  This  is  the  centre  of  much 
controversy. 

It  may  possibly  be  rather  a  fine  distinc- 
tion, but  as  a  question  of  fact  it  is  a  matter 
of  some  seriousness  to  industry  as  a  whole, 
as  this  process  of  weeding  out  the  capable 
from  the  incapable  must  leave  its  effect 
upon  the  community;  and  here  Trade  Union- 
ism is  placed  on  its  trial. 

The  answer  to  the  question  is  in  the 
affirmative,  but  it  is  necessary  to  qualify 
the  reply  with  a  caution  that  Scientific 
Management  must  not  be  allowed  still 
further  to  divide  the  skilled  from  the  un- 
skilled, with  the  inevitable  result  that  the 
wages  of  the  one  suffer  in  raising  the  status 
of  the  other.  It  must  be  combined  with 
127 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

technical  training,  intelligent  supervision, 
and  consideration  of  individual  circum- 
stances, and  then  only  will  Scientific  Man- 
agement permanently  benefit  the  worker 
with  increased  remuneration  and  the  em- 
ployer by  more  profitable  results. 

The  Problem  of  Modern  Manufacture 
can  be  reduced  to  very  few  words:  "A 
fair  day's  work  for  a  fair  day's  pay";  it  is 
the  duty  of  the  worker  to  perform  the 
former,  and  the  duty  of  the  manufacturer 
to  provide  the  latter;  but  what  is  a  fair 
day's  task  for  a  fair  day's  pay  is  not  a 
measurable  quantity,  and  it  is  this  feature 
that  forms  the  prime  difficulty  between 
capital  and  labour. 

Scientific  Management  claims  that  it  has 
at  least  decided  one  of  these  issues,  for  it 
has  reduced  the  ability  to  decide  a  "fair 
day's  work"  to  an  exact  science.  And  it 
further  claims  that  it  has  gone  a  long  way 
on  the  road  towards  deciding  the  share 
128 


Scientific  Management 

that  labour  may  claim  as  its  share  of  the 
profits. 

The  Scientific  Manager  claims  that  he  is 
able  to  pay  a  larger  remuneration  than  his 
competitor  in  the  same  field,  and  he  asserts 
that  he  is  able  to  give  shorter  hours  than 
factories  that  are  conducted  under  the  old 
methods.  This  has  been  abundantly  proved 
and  demonstrated  beyond  the  stage  of 
experiment. 

The  Welfare  Worker  views  the  question 
from  a  different  outlook,  and  seeks  to 
humanize  the  life  of  those  engaged  in  mill 
and  factory.  His  claim  is  that,  by  study- 
ing the  individual  needs  of  each  worker, 
and,  so  far  as  is  practicable,  suiting  the 
work  to  the  individual,  and  making  the 
sphere  in  which  it  is  carried  on  congenial, 
the  community  as  a  whole  is  benefited 
and  the  individual  worker  is  filled  with 
greater  ambition,  enjoys  a  better  life,  an- 
ticipates his  work  with  pleasure,  and  is 
9  129 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

altogether  a  more  useful  citizen.  The  de- 
sired result  is  attained:  capital  receives  an 
adequate  return  and  labour  an  adequate 
reward. 


130 


APPENDIX  A 

HANDLING   THE  HUMAN   FACTOR 

The  Military  System. — The  divisional 
system  is  sometimes  termed  the  "Military" 
system,  and  although  this  form  is  frequently 
caricatured,  the  "Military"  or  "Line" 
system  has  carried  the  burden  of  our  indus- 
trial arts  for  many  decades,  and  we  must 
admit  it  did  it  exceedingly  well.  Military 
systems  today,  which  are  supplemented  by 
the  Intelligence  Department,  can  be  pointed 
out  as  in  successful  operation  at  much  less 
cost  than  more  highly  elaborate  systems. 
This  latter  system  is  one  which  cannot  be 
over-emphasized.  However,  the  real  diffi- 
culty in  this  connection,  in  the  thoroughly 
organized  military  shop  system,  is  that  of 
131 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

human  limitations:  (i)  the  number  of 
people  who  can  be  effectively  supervised 
and  instructed;  (2)  the  number  of  things 
that  can  be  planned  by  any  single  indi- 
vidual reaches  its  limit  at  the  plant  unit 
growth  and  the  system  begins  to  fall  in 
the  scale  of  efficiency  thereafter,  because 
one  man  seldom  can  effectively  supervise 
a  multitude  of  operatives. 

The  Functional  System  operates  along 
the  line  largely  of  regimentation  plus  the 
closer  contact  with  the  employee.  When- 
ever the  element  of  personal  contact  with 
the  workman,  by  supervising  divisional 
officers,  ceases,  the  corresponding  necessity 
for  the  smaller  departmental  unit  control 
arises.  In  this  connection  some  confusion 
at  present  exists,  and  it  is  supposed  by 
many,  and  asserted  by  some,  that  there  is 
a  particular  economic  virtue  in  pressing 
departmental  systems  into  the  extreme 
functional  forms.  Yet,  here  again,  in  actual 
132 


Handling  the  Human  Factor 

practice  we  encounter  Human  Nature  and 
we  are  brought  to  realize  that  shop  manage- 
ment is  an  Art  rather  than  a  Science  and 
that  it  has  to  deal  with  too  many  unknown 
and  uncharted  quantities  and  variables 
before  it  can  aspire  to  scientific  rank  or 
become  a  fixed  commercial  creed.  Our 
intention  is  that  all  our  efforts  in  system 
should  be  directed  toward  developing  a 
science  of  each  industry,  but  before  we  can 
have  anything  in  the  nature  of  science  we 
await  the  intensive  development  of  the 
industrial  engineer  himself.  Let  it  then  be 
said  that  there  is,  in  fact,  no  royal  road  to 
shop  efficiency.  The  great  problem  of  the 
Human  Equation  cannot  in  the  very  na- 
ture of  things  be  solved  by  any  system  as 
such,  because  what  is  now  known  as  scien- 
tific management  is  in  the  throes  and  perils 
of  experimentation.  It  may  be  said  with- 
out any  misgiving  that  more  often  than 
not  the  great  problem  facing  the  Depart- 
133 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

mental  Manager  is  not  so  much  the  man 
whose  work  he  supervises  as  the  problem  of 
Himself.  Departments  that  are  highly 
functionalized  in  supervising,  in  order  to 
fix  responsibility,  often  fail  in  practice. 
Hence  the  need  of  science  and  system  and 
the  analysis  of  the  complex  problem  of  the 
human. 

The  Departmental  System,  on  the  other 
hand,  as  distinguished  from  the  functional, 
lays  down  no  dogmatic  rule  on  industry. 
It  has  no  quarrel  with  initiative  and  in- 
centive. It  does  not  seek  their  extinction 
as  some  systems  do,  but  rather  their  wise 
control.  In  a  good  organization,  and  aided 
by  first-class  intelligence  and  method-study 
divisions — for  these  elements  are  not  pecu- 
liar to  one  particular  system — it  splits  up 
the  shops  into  units  of  control  of  reasonable 
size,  supplies  the  best  staff  assistance, 
apparatus,  material,  and  scientific  instruc- 
tions, leaves  the  head  of  each  department 
134 


Handling  the  Human  Factor 

full  control  within  his  sphere,  and  holds 
him  solely  responsible  for  increasingly  effi- 
cient results.  In  getting  these  he  may 
functionalize  more  highly  in  some  directions 
than  in  others,  but  he  does  so  not  because 
of  any  obligation  under  an  inflexible  system 
to  follow  that  course,  but  owing  to  the 
proved  desirability  of  it.  This  then  is  true 
scientific  management,  management  accord- 
ing to  knowledge  of  the  facts  of  the  case 
and  not  according  to  theories  previously 
framed  to  suit  external  facts. 

SUPPLEMENTARY 

We  append  seven  rules  with  regard  to 
the  efficiency  of  office  and  plant  routine, 
which  should  be  observed  irrespective  of 
the  class  of  work  done: 

(i)  Have  a  well-considered  system  of 
doing  things,  definite  and  businesslike  in 
all  departments,  not  an  imitation  of  some- 
135 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

thing  else,  but  one  designed  for  your  own 
use. 

(2)  See  that  a  broad  view  of  the  subject  is 
taken,  and  provision  made  for  properly  dove- 
tailing the  various  departmental  systems. 
•  (3)  Make  the  connection  clear  to  all 
employees  by  the  use  of  a  chart.  Such  a 
table  is  self-interpreting  and  saves  much 
explanation. 

(4)  Have  as  little  system  and   as  few 
forms  as  possible.     Make  them  a  means, 
not  an  end.    There  are  many  daily  items 
of  shop  practice  being  perpetuated  in  ex- 
pensive card  systems  today,  of  which  no 
use  whatever  is  being  made,  or  is  ever  likely 
to  be  made. 

(5)  Do  not  treat  the  system  as  a  fetish. 
It  is  a  good  servant,  but  a  bad  master.    So 
much  of  it  as  is  justifiable  is  merely  or- 
ganized common  sense.     Prune  and  pare 
your  system  without  stint,  until  it  gives 
the  utmost  economy  and  dispatch. 

136 


Handling  the  Human  Factor 

(6)  Do  not  fail  to  note  closely  what  your 
system  costs,  and  if  it  is  really  paying  its 
way.    Very  few  can  answer  that  question. 
With  many  it  is  purely  a  matter  of  faith. 

(7)  Be  always  on  the  lookout  for  im- 
provements and  suggestions  from  any  re- 
sponsible  quarter,    and    discriminating   in 
adopting  them. 

Modern  system  in  the  Production  De- 
partment should  receive  the  hearty  and 
discriminating  support  of  all  plant  man- 
agers. The  latter  will  increasingly  be  drawn 
from  the  ranks  of  those  who  have  added  to 
a  thoroughly  practical  executive  discipline 
in  the  shops  a  full  comprehension  of  what 
system  can,  and  also  what  it  cannot, 
accomplish. 

The  amount  of  modern  system  we  need 
in  our  industries  bids  fair  amply  to  justify 
itself  by  its  efficiency,  particularly  in  the 
lean  years.  The  rest  is  deadweight,  and 
should  go  promptly  overboard. 


APPENDIX  B 

TRAINING  EXECUTIVES  FOR  EFFICIENCY 

EACH  step  forward  in  the  reconstruction 
of  our  industrial  machine  brings  us  nearer 
to  that  point  where  problems  of  Manage- 
ment and  Administration  become  more 
difficult  and  in  many  cases  more  abstract. 
We  are  called  upon  to  organize  more  effec- 
tively the  basic  administrative  units  in 
our  offices  and  in  our  shops  and  factories. 
There  is  an  increasing  demand  for  efficient 
managers,  superintendents,  and  captains 
in  our  industrial  divisions.  In  short,  we 
must,  by  all  manner  of  means  and  at  all 
costs,  obtain  the  competent  individual  and 
secure  efficiency. 

Each  branch  of  Industry  is  seeking  for  a 
138 


Training  Executives  for  Efficiency 

solution  of  the  problem  of  efficiency,  some- 
times at  the  expense  of  other  departments 
and  often  without  any  real  sense  of  the  in- 
terdependence and  interlocking  of  organiza- 
tion units.  Whatever  else  we  fail  to  get,  we 
must  have  co-ordination,  but  the  pressure  of 
events  is  effecting  some  change  in  our  atti- 
tude towards  this  matter.  The  truth  of 
the  matter  is  that  until  we  can  articulate 
the  units  of  organization  into  a  more  scien- 
tific structure,  their  amplification  (in  view 
of  the  splitting  up  of  the  mechanical  pro- 
cesses of  labour  and  standardization)  may 
easily  become  an  overwhelming  embarrass- 
ment. So  that  now,  rather  than  look  for 
more  men,  we  are  seeking  for  those  ideas 
and  bases  of  action  which  will  most  effec- 
tively co-ordinate  and  harmonize  the  power 
of  the  men  we  have.  Difficulties  of  the 
kind  that  arise  today  are  of  such  magnitude 
and  involve  the  proper  adjustment  of  so 
many  interests,  the  co-ordination  of  so  many 
139 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

agencies,  as  to  be  baffling  in  the  extreme. 
We  have  no  counterpart  in  the  economic 
evolution  of  industrialism.  We  are  as  men 
sailing  on  an  uncharted  sea.  The  centraliza- 
tion of  authority  fundamental  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  nearly  all  such  matters  is  the 
question  of  the  degree  of  centralization  of 
administrative  authority,  with  the  sub- 
sidiary problem  of  correct  and  balanced 
decentralization.  And  here  we  shall  prob- 
ably find  the  solution  by  adopting  what  is 
called  the  military  principle  of  industrial 
regimentation.  It  would  appear  that  a 
maximum  of  centralization,  which  is  un- 
desirable (as  is  too  much  decentralization), 
is  obnoxious.  Either  extreme  may  create 
inefficiency.  The  policy  of  the  captains  of 
industry  should  be  rather  to  aim  at  that 
degree  of  decentralization  that  is  consistent 
with  a  strong,  potent,  and  far-sighted 
central  control.  Here  again,  however,  in 
bringing  about  this  type  of  administrative 
140 


Training  Executives  for  Efficiency 

control,  there  are  many  difficulties  to  be 
encountered;  for  we  are  told  that  our  new 
democracy  must  turn  to  industrial  absolu- 
tism for  its  model,  if  it  seeks,  first  of  all,  to 
be  efficient  and,  finally,  effective.  In  this 
theory  of  management  we  shall  have  our 
industrial  institutions  modelled  on  the  type 
organized  by  the  man  who  is  known  as  the 
Captain  of  Industry. 

But  here  we  must  not  leave  out  of  our 
industrial  system  the  great  problem,  the 
essential  consent  of  the  employee  in  the 
adoption  of  these  schemes  of  the  scientific 
correlation  and  regimentation  of  industrial 
administration.  We  must  develop  in  every 
unit  of  organization  the  desire  for  a  common 
leadership  and  an  ability  to  respond  to  that 
leadership  when  it  is  intelligent.  Here  we 
meet  with  the  problem  of  Functional  and  Staff 
Training,  and  the  development  of  that 
personal  factor  of  efficiency  without  which 
there  can  be  no  such  thing  as  loyalty,  har- 
141 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

mony,  and  that  correct  disposition  on  the 
part  of  the  worker  which  eventuates  in  the 
happiness  of  all.  But  more  important  even 
than  this,  we  must  develop  as  our  leaders 
of  industry  men  who  realize  that  their  ca- 
pacity for  leadership  is  conditioned  by  the 
loyalty  of  those  they  seek  to  lead,  and  they 
must  be  men  to  whom  facts  are  masters  and 
whose  scientific  training  ensures  the  higher 
degree  of  efficiency  and  management.  These 
top  controls,  which  must  necessarily  be  es- 
tablished, will,  when  thoroughly  co-ordinated 
and  made  scientific,  be  beyond  anything 
we  have  ever  dealt  with  in  industry.  It 
will  be  the  function  of  these  super-organi- 
zations to  seek  out  the  inner  theories  of 
action,  to  enunciate  policies,  record  per- 
formance, and  capitalize  experience. 

The  organization  of  any  form  of  top  con- 
trol can  only  proceed  as  we  develop  the 
organization  of  each  of  the  units  the  activi- 
ties of  which  are  eventually  to  be  correlated. 
142 


Training  Executives  for  Efficiency 

Little  authority  of  this  kind  exists,  except 
in  great  combines  and  monopolistic  con- 
centrations, and  what  we  have  stated  herein 
is  as  a  sign-post  pointing  out  the  road  along 
which  we  must  inevitably  and  eventually 
travel  to  our  industrial  Utopia. 


143 


APPENDIX  C 

HOW  TO  ESTABLISH  AN  EFFICIENCY  CLUB 

A  PRELIMINARY  Meeting  of  the  Staff  is 
called,  presided  over  by  the  Management, 
at  which  the  Aims  and  Objects  of  the  Club 
are  outlined  and  a  synopsis  of  the  course  of 
training,  etc.,  submitted  and  explained. 

It  is  usual  for  the  Management  to  select 
from  each  Department  the  most  promising 
Members  of  the  Staff,  and  these  form  the 
nucleus  of  the  Club,  or,  in  some  cases,  the 
entire  Staff  may  be  taken  in  groups  by 
rotation. 

The  House  or  Works  Club  would  be  con- 
trolled by  the  Executive  of  the  Company, 
who  fix  the  place  of  meeting  and  the  time, 
and  lectures  and  demonstrations  are  given. 
144 


How  to  Establish  An  Efficiency  Club 

The  Meetings  are  held  during  or  after 
business  hours,  and  take  place  as  frequently 
as  convenient,  or  are  arranged  for  weekly 
or  at  least  once  a  month. 

Intermediate  Meetings  should  be  en- 
couraged among  the  Staff,  where  among 
themselves  the  Members  of  the  Club  dis- 
cuss the  problems  arising  out  of  each 
Lecture  and  their  daily  experience  in  the 
dispatch  of  departmental  duties. 

RULES  AND  REGULATIONS 

Rules  are  drawn  up  by  the  Executive 
for  the  conduct  of  the  Club,  and  a  Secretary 
is  appointed  to  keep  minutes  and  a  perma- 
nent record  of  all  Meetings.  A  verbatim, 
revised  Report  of  each  Lecture  is  given  to 
each  Member. 

A  regular  report  is  submitted  to  the 
Executive  in  order  to  assess  the  results 
attained  by  the  Club  as  a  whole  and  so 
IP  145 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

register  progress.  It  is  usual  for  the  course 
of  training  to  extend  over  a  period  of  twelve 
months,  but  it  may  be  abbreviated  and 
adapted  to  the  domestic  and  local  conditions 
of  the  Firm  or  Company. 

It  may  be  indicated  that  the  technical 
routine  and  system  of  the  firm  are  not 
trenched  upon  except  incidentally,  because 
this  factor  is  mainly  the  province  of  the 
Executive  and  the  Management. 

COST  OF  SUCH  A  TRAINING 

If  an  Instructor  is  brought  into  the 
Works  from  outside  it  is  usual  for  the  Com- 
pany to  pay  the  fees  of  the  Members,  or 
otherwise  contract  for  the  services  of  the 
Lecturer  or  Instructor,  unless  training  is 
undertaken  by  the  Management.  In  some 
instances  the  Company  itself  would  prefer 
to  pay  the  entire  cost  of  the  course  of  train- 
ing and  control  its  administration. 
146 


How  to  Establish  An  Efficiency  Club 

In  order  to  foster  a  spirit  of  co-operation 
aiming  at  the  attainment  of  a  higher  per- 
centage of  result,  some  firms  adopt  a  co- 
operative system  whereby  the  Members  of 
the  House  Club  pay  part  of  the  cost  of 
training,  the  Members'  payment  being 
spread  over  a  given  period  in  instalments 
and  is  returnable  for  those  who  attain  the 
highest  grades  of  efficiency.  The  course  of 
study  or  training  should  cover  such  subjects 
as: 

A  History  ot  the  Firm:  The  Nature  of 
its  Product:  Conditions  of  Manufacture. 
Business  Considered  as  a  Science.  The 
Aims  and  Objects  of  Business  Life.  The 
Service  Idea  and  its  Relation  to  the  Com- 
pany :  Relation  between  Learning  and  Earn- 
ing: Cultivation  of  Initiative:  Value  of 
Personality  in  Business.  Personal  Efficiency 
and  the  Laws  of  Health:  Self -discipline: 
Training  the  Will.  How  to  Obtain  Mental 
Efficiency:  What  the  Mind  is  and  How  it 
147 


Human  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

Works.  The  Cultivation  of  Tact,  Courtesy, 
Order,  and  Promptness.  How  to  Save 
Time,  Energy,  and  Money,  and  Eliminate 
Waste.  Efficiency  in  Methods  of  Work: 
The  use  of  Time  and  Motion  Study.  How 
to  Organize  Oneself:  Self -Education.  Busi- 
ness Ethics:  Fatal  Habits  Easily  Acquired: 
The  Need  for  Loyalty  and  Co-operation: 
Reliability  and  Honesty:  The  Habits  of 
System  and  Punctuality:  The  Interdepend- 
ence of  Departments,  etc. 

This  brief  digest  may  be  suggestive  of 
other  ideas  which  may  fit  in  with  the  local 
and  domestic  needs  of  the  firm.  In  any 
case  such  an  educational  scheme  has  now 
come  to  be  recognized  as  being  as  necessary 
as  a  costing  department  or  a  sales  de- 
partment. 

Considering  the  problem  of  training  em- 
ployees in  the  Works  to  the  end  that  they 
may  get  adequate  insight  into  the  nature 
and  character  of  their  daily  duties  and  the 
148 


How  to  Establish  An  Efficiency  Club 

relation  of  same  to  the  efficiency  of  the  whole 
concern,  it  has  been  found  in  actual  prac* 
tice  that  a  scheme  such  as  is  outlined  above 
is  most  effective  in  the  production  of  results 
and  the  development  of  the  personal  factor 
to  the  very  highest  degree  of  efficiency. 

The  method  suggested  may  be  deemed 
new,  and  in  some  senses  novel,  but  the  fact 
remains  that  such  an  organization  within 
the  works,  rightly  conducted,  would  elimi- 
nate most,  if  not  all,  of  the  troubles  which 
arise  through  departmental  misunderstand- 
ing and  jealousy — the  most  perilous  nega- 
tive factor  in  any  institution. 

Executives  who  aim  at  efficient  manage- 
ment will  soon  find  that  the  adoption  of 
such  a  scheme,  adapted  to  local  needs, 
would  create  that  essential  atmosphere 
among  the  workers  without  which  there 
can  never  be  true  efficiency. 


149 


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